Baby Sister : Rewritten
by E Salvatore
Summary: REWRITTEN. There's something Stefan's hiding from Elena. There's something Damon's hiding from Elena. A century and a half later, there's just one more secret left, one more mystery yet to be cracked… one more Salvatore missing. And when she does return, nothing will ever be the same again. Set after an AU version of first finale. Some S/E.
1. Prologue

**BABY SISTER : REWRITTEN**

**Summary : ****There's something Stefan's hiding from Elena. There's something Damon's hiding from Elena. A century and a half later, there's just one more secret left, one more mystery yet to be cracked… one more Salvatore missing. And when she does return, nothing will ever be the same again. Set after an AU version of first finale. Some S/E.**

**Disclaimer : **_**The Vampire Diaries**_** and all related trademarks, hot actors and heart-breaking storylines belong to the CW, their original author and the show runners. Sadly.**

* * *

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Prologue : Lost Girl**

* * *

_**1864, days prior to Katherine Pierce's arrival,**_

_**On the outskirts of Mystic Falls:**_

"Katherine." She calls for the vampire's attention, a desperate edge to her voice. "Please, Kathy. If you are truly my friend, then you will grant me this one favor. Please." Her desperate pleading is impressively deceptive; her eyes hold glints of triumph even as they plead with her, certain of her inevitable victory.

"I really do like you," Katherine sighs, admiring the girl who is not above using their friendship to get that which she wants. She is resourceful, unhesitant, manipulative. She is a carbon copy of the vampire herself. "You remind me… of me."

The girl's lip curl in a grin. "That is a yes." She states confidently, green eyes – the eyes she shares with her brother – bright and victorious.

Katherine observes the girl once more. In all her years as the living dead, never before has she felt such a kinship to another. This young girl, so bright and full of life, and so willing to sacrifice it all for power and greatness, for immortality…

Against the brilliant shades of the setting sun, Katherine reaches out for the girl she's come to love as a sister and in one fluid movement, ends her life.

Her _human_ life, that is.

* * *

_**1864, hours prior to Katherine Pierce's arrival,**_

_**Mystic Falls:**_

"Where is Isabella?" Giuseppe Salvatore bellows, stalking down the stairs in a fit of rage.

"We have not seen her for days," A disheveled Stefan Salvatore reluctantly reports after a long night of searching for his sister, one that had proved fruitless.

"I am certain she is fine," Damon Salvatore offers, his eyes lacking their usual confident spark as his voice falters. His sister's inquisitive and adventurous nature had made her flighty, but Bella Salvatore was not one to cause concern and leave a trail of questions behind her. She was fond of taking off without alerting a soul to her whereabouts, but never before had any of her disappearances lasted for a fortnight, not until this time.

The Salvatore patriarch growls, eyes wild with fury. "Search for her!" He orders the servants and guards milling about, effectively sending them scurrying off. He is seemingly calmed by the action, as if comforted that he is doing all he can. Breathing deeply, he eyes his remaining children, his two sons.

"You two shall clean up and make yourself presentable." He commands. "Damon, for the Army and Stefan, for polite company."

"Miss Pierce is almost here." He announces with a slight smile, as if news of their guest has driven out all concern for his missing daughter.

The brothers nod reluctantly and go their separate ways obediently, despite the fact that each would like nothing more than to take to the woods and track down their missing sister. Neither can help the dark, unbidden thought that lingers in their mind.

What if this time… they have lost their baby sister for good?

* * *

**There we go: the rewritten prologue. Minor changes here; just some details, mostly. And now, let's go on and see what everyone's up to in 2011.**

**Don't forget to share your thoughts on the story, the rewrite and the idea of a sequel.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	2. One

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**One : News**

* * *

"We're gonna be late for school."

Elena Gilbert squirms in her companion's arms as he tightens his hold on her petite waist. "It's Saturday," He informs her, walking them backwards, to bed. "School's out." Her argument refuted, Elena allows Stefan Salvatore to hide them under the still-warm covers as he trails butterfly kisses on her neck and bare shoulders.

"In that case, Mr. Salvatore," She smiles flirtatiously, finally slipping away from bed. "What do you say of joining me for a morning bath?" She proposes, a single hand outstretched as a clear invitation.

"I would say, Ms. Gilbert," He reaches for her hand. "That it's high time we find out if the tub can hold two comfortably." He wears a stoic mask, voice perfectly serious.

They find that the tub can, in fact, hold two comfortably.

* * *

"What time should we go visit Caroline?" Stefan speaks up as Elena turns off the hairdryer, setting it down in favor of a hairbrush. He watches as she manages her hair, staring contemplatively into the mirror.

"After breakfast," She decides, lifting her hair out of the way as he moves to stand behind her, gently stringing a necklace around her neck. He presses a light kiss to her neck after securing the clasp, but the lightheartedness of their morning is gone, replaced with guilt and worry on Elena's part.

Last night, one of her two best friends had gotten into an accident. Her brother had tried to turn himself into a vampire by taking his own life. The town had staged an attack against the living dead, nearly taking down Stefan and his brother, Damon.

And while her family and friends dealt with the fall-out, she had sequestered herself in Stefan's bedroom, blocking out the world and the messed up facts that had become her reality.

"We can go now." She says, eyes dull with concern. He nods, having followed her thoughts, and together they make their way to the town's hospital.

On the way to her friend, Elena closes her eyes and relives yesterday. Has it been only twelve hours since John Gilbert, her _father_, had tried to kill both Damon and Stefan? Has it been only eleven hours since she had found her brother on the brink of death, confident that he would return as the undead? Has it been only ten hours since she had been notified of Caroline's accident by a tearful Bonnie?

Dread pools in her stomach and a heavy feeling settles over her heart as she realizes that yes, it was just last night that all these horrible things had happened.

But what goes up must come down and vice versa. After having seemingly hit rock bottom yesterday, thing are now starting to seem okay for their little band of misfits. While notifying her aunt of where she would be last night, Jenna had shared the news of John leaving town. Elena had made the mistake of asking about Jeremy, having momentarily forgotten that her aunt was, and still is, entirely out of the loop… the vampire loop. Stefan had reassured her that Jeremy's plan had backfired and Anna's blood, which coursed through his system, had healed him instead of reviving him. A short conversation with Jeremy had cleared up any lingering doubt. Her brother was human, healthy and pissed, but that was alright.

An hour after leaving the hospital, Bonnie had sent her a text saying that Caroline had stabilized and that they were free to visit her in the morning, and so Elena had ended up with Stefan, on their way to Caroline.

After the events of the last twenty-four hours, Elena wonders if they've finally reached their quota for bad luck and disasters. Damon had almost died, Jeremy had almost turned and it had been touch and go with Caroline for a moment – surely they'd checked off all the little boxes of possible bad things.

A hopeful smile begins to tug at Elena's lips. Stefan reaches out for her hand, having noticed her rising spirits.

"Everything is going to be fine, Elena." He assures her, having seemingly read her thoughts. She tugs her hand away and playfully smacks his arm.

"I thought Bonnie was the only psychic here," She grins.

Stefan shrugs wordlessly, but the matching grins on their faces have successfully taken their minds off darker thoughts. They reach the hospital and find an empty parking lot; it seems that the townspeople of Mystic Falls have better ways to spend their Saturday morning than milling about the hospital.

They head straight for Caroline's room. As they turn a corner to find the right corridor, Elena finds that Damon has fallen into step with them. She wonders if he plans on visiting her friend – pointless, really, since Damon isn't really Caroline's favorite person right now. He comes to an abrupt halt when Caroline's room comes into sight, answering her unspoken question. Damon will not go any further.

"We need to talk," He states ominously and Elena's heart drops as she wonders just what they've gotten themselves into this time. The fact that Damon is lacking his signature smirk does not help.

"What is it?" She nearly groans, resigned to their fate.

"Oh, no," Damon smiles with a dismissive wave. "You can go now, Elena. Stefan and I need to have a little chat." The younger Salvatore regards his brother with suspicion and a hint of curiosity, a frequent scene between the brothers. He turns to Elena.

"Bonnie's inside with Caroline," He informs her. "I'll catch up to you." Elena's eyes flit from Stefan to Damon, who masks his anxiousness with a deceptive grin, and nods, sharing a chaste kiss with Stefan before turning to resume her walk to Caroline.

As she prepares to enter her friend's room, Elena turns around for one last look at the brothers, just to check that everything is alright.

Everything is _not _alright. Stefan is frozen in shock, eyes wide and disbelieving. Damon studies him anxiously, restlessly and urgently conveying something to his brother with erratic hand movements. He must have said something right, because Stefan seems to shake himself out of his stupor as he replies. Damon rests a single hand on Stefan's shoulder, nodding wordlessly.

Elena watches as they share a sincere smile, tinged with… hope.

She masks her shock and curiosity with a bright smile and walks into Caroline's room.

* * *

"I found her." Damon states in a hushed voice as Stefan leans against the wall. He quickly springs forward, shoulders rigid.

"Who?" He demands, but they both know that he is perfectly aware of who Damon has supposedly found. There is only one _her_ that they've both been keeping an eye out for these past hundred-odd years.

Damon stares him down with a carefully blank face, as if preparing himself to say the words out loud. Finally, he speaks.

"Bella. I found Bella."

Stefan's eyes widen in shock as his mind races to process the implications of his brother's claim. He is shocked, angry, disappointed… relieved, happy, ecstatic. His mind holds him captive with thoughts and possibilities even as Damon keeps speaking, hands flying everywhere as he throws them up and presses one to his chest and swings them around.

And then finally, he hears something that makes him jump, as if awaken from a coma.

"She's here."

"Virginia? She's here? Home?" He questions haltingly.

Damon places a hand on his shoulder, for support and not in the menacing way he has performed this action over the past century. Maintaining eye contact with his younger brother, he nods. Just a single nod, one that clears Stefan's mind and makes his heart beat again.

Together, they smile, hopefully awaiting the future.

Hopefully awaiting the return of their sister.

* * *

It takes Stefan a few minutes to feel anywhere close to normal after Damon leaves. Once he's managed to stop grinning like a stupid fool, he steps into Caroline's room for a quick visit, wishing her a speedy recovery before excusing Elena and himself. Elena smiles and bids her friends goodbye before following him out of the room.

He leads the way silently, lost in his thoughts. Damon's news has brought him great joy, to be sure, but they're both painfully aware of what it means. It's been over a century now; the only way for her to still be alive is to be… well, less than alive. As alive as any member of the undead can be.

Elena tugs on his sleeve just before they exit the hospital, bringing them both to a halt. He turns around to find wide, concerned eyes.

"What's going on, Stefan?" Elena demands, albeit gently. "I saw you two talking." She shares, obviously convinced that he's about to dismiss her concerns. His eyes drop to the ground; is that how Elena feels? That he keeps her out?

Well, he's certainly kept her out from this. You don't just hide something like this from the woman you love, and yet he has. _How could you_, he berates himself. Finally, inhaling deeply, he raises his eyes to level with hers.

"There's something I've been hiding from you, Elena." He confesses. "There's something _we_'ve been hiding from you." He amends on second thought; after all, she's Damon's sister too.

"And now…" He sighs. "Now I have to tell you about her."

He watches as the concern in Elena's eyes morph into shock, then suspicion, then hesitation. "_Her_?" She echoes questioningly.

Suddenly, he is reminded of the last time he'd introduced her to a female friend. "It's not like _that_," He hastily assures her, smiling in amusement though his eyes cannot help displaying a faint flicker of disgust. Damon would have been greatly amused by this, he's sure.

"Let's just go back," He tells her, resting a guiding hand on the small of her back. "We'll tell you everything." He promises as they get into the car. Elena nods and the first few minutes of their ride is spent in comfortable silence as each is left alone with their thoughts. And then he feels her eyes on him. He meets them and is taken aback by the sad look on her face.

"She's a vampire, isn't she?"

His shoulders drop as his mind processes her words. Finally, someone's said it out loud. And the thing with the truth is that once it's been said… it can't be ignored or denied any longer.

"Yes," He sighs, eyes quickly moving back to the road.

"Yes, she's a vampire."

* * *

**One chapter down, twenty-something more to go. Yes, the original had a prologue, twenty chapters and an epilogue, but I'm not sure it'll be the same this time around. We might end up with a few more chapters. Maybe just a couple of them.**

**Don't forget to stop by and let me know what you think of what's going on so far!**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	3. Two

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Two : Bella**

* * *

"Drinks, snacks… blood?" Damon offers, chuckling at his own joke.

"Just get on with it," Elena snaps as Stefan pulls her down to sit with him. She curls into his side and allows him to place a reassuring hand on her arm.

"Well, someone's in a bad mood." Damon states, swiping a plate off the bar. "I take it you didn't have breakfast this morning." He regards Elena with a smug, all-knowing smirk, serving her the plate. Elena reaches out for warm pastry, a grateful smile on her face.

"Thank you." She says automatically, a display of the manners she has been taught. Her fingers tear at the treat, lifting a piece to her lips as she becomes aware of the hunger she's suppressed all morning.

"You might want to put that down first." Damon eyes her as he settles down into a seat of his own.

"Why?" Elena questions after making quick work of the bite she'd consumed.

"It's best to have sugar in your system when in shock," Damon states, obviously quoting someone in a patronizing manner. "And of course you're going to be shocked." He rolls his eyes. "It's us. Our news is _big_." He smirks.

Stefan apparently agrees with his brother as he gently pries the plate from Elena's grasp, placing it on the coffee table nearby. Elena sighs and resigns herself to waiting, but is quickly distracted by matters at hand.

"Okay," She starts, taking a deep breath to brace herself. "What's the big news?"

"Elena," Stefan hesitantly takes her hands in his own, focusing her attention on him. "You might believe that Damon and I are the only Salvatores left, that the family line has ended." He pauses, as if for theatrical build-up.

"But that's not true."

Elena regards him with wide eyes. "That's not?" She echoes uncertainly. Stefan shakes his head just once with a strained smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Just get to it already, brother." Damon rolls his eyes, getting to his feet. "Or I will." He threatens idly as he crosses over to the bar, fixing himself a drink.

"I was just about to, Damon." Stefan retorts. "But thank you for your patience."

Damon laughs shortly. "Touchy." He comments, remaining by the bar.

"My parents had us," Stefan ignores him, resuming his earlier tale as Elena listens attentively. "Two sons… and a daughter."

Elena grows still as her eyes remain focused on Stefan. "A daughter." She repeats, her tone flat.

Damon drops all pretenses and snaps to attention, observing Elena. "Are you okay?" He asks, struggling to keep his voice light.

Elena remains silent. _A sister_, her mind echoes. Stefan and Damon have a _sister_. She voices her thoughts out loud.

"Yes," Stefan nods. "Her name is Isabella." He adds.

"Goes by Bells," Damon pitches in. Elena's mind is too preoccupied to take note. _Her name is Isabella_, Stefan had said. _Is _being the keyword. Their conversation in the car comes to her mind. Stefan's inexplicable tenseness and dark mood at her statement of the obvious… her unknowing statement, the one in which she had identified his little sister as one of his kind…

"She's a vampire." Elena blurts out the second her mind catches on.

"Yeah," Damon says easily, as if it doesn't bother him in the least, the fact that his baby sister is now a vampire, a monster, just like him. "We just found out."

Elena doesn't acknowledge nor add to the conversation, prompting Stefan to observe her with concern in his eyes. "Elena, are you okay?"

She wordlessly reaches for the plate and bites into her breakfast.

* * *

One sugary treat and some minutes for her to process this knowledge are all she is given before Stefan and Damon start filling her in on their sister. They sum up Isabella Salvatore's entire background in less than twenty minutes.

"But what happened to her?" Elena asks hesitantly after they end the tale with their sister's disappearance.

"We don't know." Damon confesses, his eyes haunted. "When she went missing," He swallows down a lump in his throat – she didn't go missing, he knows that now. Their sister was most likely taken and turned… in some horrific manner. "We just assumed she was off on one of her adventures." He falters on the last word.

"We searched for her," Stefan hurries to defend them, and ease his brother's guilt. "But by the time we realized she had been gone too long…"

"She had been gone too long for you to find her." Elena concludes.

Stefan nods reluctantly. "It didn't help that Damon had to leave for the Army that day… and _Katherine _had arrived." His gaze turns bitter at the mere mention of Elena's ancestress.

"Just another thing to add to the long list of how Katherine screwed up our lives." Damon pipes up. "That bitch cost us our sister." He mutters through gritted teeth.

"Father was so taken with Katherine that somehow, he just forgot about Bella. All of us did," Stefan drops his eyes to the ground, defeated and full of shame, disappointed at how he had failed his little sister. Elena curls into him and takes his hand in a show of support.

"It wasn't your fault." She consoles him.

"It wasn't," Damon seconds, surprising the couple. "If there's anyone to blame," His fists ball up in frustration. "It's me." It's the first time in a long time that Damon has showed them anything but the usual cockiness he displays to the world.

Stefan's head snaps up, shock clearly displayed in his features.

"I messed up," Damon goes on. "If I'd just focused on Bella when I'd come home, if I'd just left you and Katherine alone, maybe things-"

Stefan cuts in, rushing to console his brother. "You couldn't have known, Damon. It's not your fault. Katherine planned the whole thing. She wouldn't have given up even if you had ignored her. She probably would've compelled you." He grits his teeth at the thought.

"Still, if only I had focused…" Damon stresses. "And before you take credit for anything, Stefan," He speaks up. "You didn't do anything. She compelled you. You literally had no choice."

Stefan falters, a mix of guilt and being unaccustomed to Damon's support.

"I know." He mutters reluctantly, conceding Damon's point. Katherine, that horrible monster, had compelled him into becoming her little lapdog. He literally hadn't thought of anything but her, not of his brother, not of his father, not of his missing sister. Still, guilt plagues him. There must have been some way for him to have escaped her compulsion. He must have failed in some way for her to have taken control of his mind and will so easily.

Elena has been a silent witness to the brothers' interaction as they relived old memories and voiced old doubts, but now her curiosity struggles to make itself heard.

"Hold on a minute," She speaks up, effectively drawing attention from both brothers and putting an end to their guilt-tripping.

"If Bella went missing," She starts. "And you guys had no idea of her… condition," She doesn't know how to phrase it, so she settles for simply calling their sister's transformation a 'condition', wincing slightly at her poor choice of words. "How did you find her, Damon?"

Damon's mouth settles in a grim, hard line. They watch as he slams back the remnants of his drink and pours another, still leaning against the bar. Finally, he inhales deeply and straightens up, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes, cold and hard, a contrast from the emotions he was openly displaying just minutes ago, find Stefan's. His words, indecipherable to Elena, cause Stefan's blood – or whatever it is that runs through his veins – to run cold.

"Bella messed with the Others."

* * *

**Dum-dum-dum!**

**And that's Chapter Two, folks. Moving on to the third one…**

**But not before you guys drop a line! Okay, kidding, I'm going to update whether you review or not. But it would be a nice bonus.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	4. Three

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Three : Rules**

* * *

A guttural groan rips forth from Stefan as he springs to his feet and begins pacing the living room. Elena, jostled by his sudden movement, eyes him with concerned eyes.

"Bella." He seethes, hands balled up in fists so tightly that his knuckles turn pale. Anger and concern roll off his tense form in palpable waves, and Elena fears that he might…

"Stefan, _don't_." Damon rushes to his brother's side, pinning his brother's hands together. Stefan fights back, and soon Elena finds herself witness to a fight with movements so fast that they blur together.

It takes Damon less than a minute to gain the upper hand, fueled by his diet of human blood. Cuffing his brother's hands together, Damon pushes him back to an awaiting Elena. "He won't do anything with you nearby." He shrugs by way of explanation. Elena climbs into Stefan's lap, framing his face with her hands, forcing him to look her in the eye.

Elena, clueless and somewhat scared, wonders just what it is that has Stefan so unsettled. The mere mention of these… _Others_ has her Stefan, her cool, calm and collected Stefan, all riled up. The fact that Elena has never even heard of the _Others _doesn't help ease the dread that has pooled in her stomach.

Keeping her questions to herself for the moment, she focuses on Stefan and calls his name gently. The growl that had been building up in his throat dies down and he seems choked up for a moment.

"Stefan!" Elena repeats more insistently. The vampire in her hold sighs as his rigid form goes slack, his composure slowly coming back. Elena lets go of a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding on to. Her eyes, closed in relief as she exhales, dart to his at the sound of his voice.

"I'm sorry, Elena." He sighs, eyes closed as if he can't even bear to face the disappointment he expects to see in her eyes. Elena draws him closer, running her hands up and down his back in repeated, soothing motions.

"It's okay," She sighs. "Everything's okay, Stefan."

Damon observes the intimate scene in front of him for a few seconds with a pinched look before forcing out a groan, as if exasperated. "I need more ice." He announces, rattling the glass in his hand. He uses this flimsy excuse to leave the room, giving the couple some privacy… and earning himself some space.

Stefan sighs heavily, resting his forehead against Elena's. Damon's sudden departure hadn't gone unnoticed by the seemingly occupied duo. With each passing day, he fears that the three of them – Elena, Damon and himself – are being drawn into another triangle, one that will inevitably cause devastation and heartbreak, much like the one he had last been a part of…

Suppressing his fears, he returns to the present, the one where Elena is observing him with her big, wide eyes, the ones that swim with unvoiced concern. Pulling back slightly, he brings up both hands to frame her face.

"I'm sorry," He says again; his outburst had been… unexpected. "I've spent all these years thinking the worst, believing that I would never again see my sister… and now, I might lose her before I can even get her back."

Elena is silent as she processes this. "Are they really that bad?" She finally asks. "The… the Others?" She clarifies in a halting voice.

Damon, who had been lingering in the doorway, hidden by the dark hallway, steps into the room. "Trust me," He speaks up, alerting the others to his return. "They're _worse_."

His ominous words make quick work of the wispy tendrils of ease that had been working their way into Elena's heart, which quickly sinks. Stefan, in a move that suggests they're in for a serious explanation, gently eases her off his lap and settles in next to her. Silence settles like a heavy storm cloud over the gathered trio.

"Evolution." Damon states clearly, breaking the silence. "We started out as amoeba, eventually split into two kinds – those who walk and those who swim. Then came those who fly. More evolution. Humans came along. Even more evolution. Colors came along – skin, hair, eyes." He appears to be rambling but it is clear to all three in presence that Damon is doing two things: providing Elena with a clear, if not unnecessarily simplified, explanation… and stalling.

"What I'm saying," He meets Elena's curious gaze. "Is that there is more than one of everything. Dozens, even hundreds, of different species for each breed. Human, animals, even plants… so why not vampires?"

His little lesson in evolution does the trick; Elena catches on quickly.

"Different kinds of vampires? That's what the Others are?" She questions in one short breath, turning to Stefan for confirmation.

He nods, mouth set in a grim line. "There have been different races of vampires for as long as anyone can remember vampires themselves. There are vampires like us-"

Damon cuts in. "Real vampires, who burn in the sun and have fangs." He states with a certain air of arrogance and pride. Stefan nods.

"Those are our traits, yes. And we remain the dominant race. There is a kind made exclusively of females, who cannot walk under the sun even with daylight rings, but possess a gift for compulsion ten, twenty times stronger than ours. The succubus."

"And their male counterparts," Damon sets down his drink and joins them by the fireplace. "The incubus. Personally, I like to think of them as part zombie." Damon stops there, leaving Elena to turn her questioning gaze to Stefan.

"An incubus is… cursed." Stefan elaborates. "Once turned, they become mindless predators who prey on women, exclusively, for two things: blood…"

"And children." Damon supplies when Stefan pauses as if warning Elena to brace herself. Elena flinches.

"Children?" She echoes uncertainly, a horrified gasp kept to herself.

"Yeah," Damon nods almost cheerfully, making light of the horrors they are sharing with her. "They come to you at night, hoping to drain you and get some action, try to knock you up."

Placing a hand meant to be a soothing touch upon her shoulder, Stefan speaks more carefully. "An incubus, once turned, is driven to… impregnate human females. The goal, as far as anyone can tell, is to produce half-human, half-vampire children who will blend in better amongst unsuspecting humans, ensuring a continued survival of their species."

"Survival of the fittest," Damon quips. "Even zombies know it." Ignoring his commentary, Elena voices the question that has been eating at her for the past two minutes.

"Have they – I mean, are there…?" She trails off questioningly. The mere thought of it is nauseating.

"No." Stefan assures her. "As I said, they seem to be mindless, and to that extent, unaware of their strength. Most victims…" He pauses, searching for a delicate way to phrase this; there is none. "Do not survive the encounter."

"And even if they do," Damon smirks. "I'm pretty sure Zombie Man isn't exactly the poster child for fertility."

Stefan quickly moves on, hoping to keep Elena from dwelling on this particular kind of vampire. "There are dozens of others, all uniquely different. But aside from our kind, most vampire breeds seem to be localized, existing in small numbers. Some are made up of only a coven or two. Except for one."

"The Cold Ones." Damon intones, uncharacteristically solemn.

Both brothers lapse into silence instead of offering further explanation; Elena needs a moment for all of this to sink in and they are well aware of it. Even they had been taken aback at this discovery a decade into their second lives, and even as vampires, they had faced some difficulty accepting this. For Elena, who up until a few months ago had been leading a perfectly normal, blissfully unaware life, none of this had ever seemed even remotely possible, not even in her wildest nightmares. And now she is required to accept all of it, unquestioningly, as part of the bigger picture.

A few moments later, she nods slowly, eyes still glazed over. "Okay," She inhales deeply. "Cold Ones." She states as a request for more.

The brothers trade looks; Stefan isn't sure how much more Elena can take and Damon isn't sure how much more they can keep from her. Eventually, Stefan concedes with a single nod and takes Elena's hand into his own as Damon collects his thoughts.

"All of these vampires we've told you about," Stefan begins in an even tone. "They all came about after the first of our kind; after the idea of vampirism had been thrown out into the collective supernatural community. In a way, all of the other vampires are copies, slightly modified versions of our kind."

"Knock-offs, basically." Damon smirks. A corner of Stefan's lips quirks up as if in amusement, though it's quite out of character for him. But he appreciates Damon's little comments and quips, carefully timed to help Elena keep calm.

"All known vampire species can be traced back to the Originals – the very first vampires – or a witch's experiment." Stefan goes on.

"Except the Cold Ones." Elena hazards a guess. Stefan nods, a small, proud smile playing on his lips. Damon claps his hand together once.

"She's finally catching on!" He announces to no one in particular with mock enthusiasm. Elena doesn't even notice his attitude anymore; Damon takes some getting used to but after that, you learn to expect pretty much anything and let it roll off your back.

"No one knows where the Cold Ones came from." Stefan tells her.

"Or who's responsible for them." Damon adds. "But they were first recorded just a century after the Originals, so I'd bet they're a failed attempt at a knock-off."

"But," Stefan picks up. "No one has been able to prove this."

"Yet." Damon smirks with an eye roll thrown in for good measure.

"We don't know where they came from or what they really are." Stefan stresses. "Only that there are rules."

"Rules?" Elena echoes uncertainly. She is not fond of the idea. With rules come punishments, and executors… and victims.

"Different kinds of vampires are to keep to themselves. If two or more different vampires are found to have been interacting frequently… there are consequences."

"No fraternizing, basically." Damon sums up on behalf of his brother. "I've always found that offensive. It's vampire racism, don't you think?" Damon wears an expression of mock disdain which quickly clears up when Stefan pins him with a serious look.

"What has Bella done?" He questions wearily, resigned to whatever it is his sister has done, whatever rules she has violated. There is no stopping Bella, only planning damage control. It had been the same during their childhood.

"She's frequently associated with Cold Ones. Rumor has it she even lived with a coven of them for months." Damon crosses his arms, serious for once. "I don't know much, Stefan. It was hard enough to even confirm that it's her. Whatever it is that Bella is up to, she's trying to hide it. And herself. From what I can tell, she lives under assumed names and even those are changed every few years."

A thought occurs to Elena and she speaks up before Stefan can. "It sounds like she's running."

Stefan, who had been ready to speak, pauses. The brothers share a look and Damon nods. "It's possible. Hell, _I_'d run."

Stefan sighs heavily; the burden on his shoulders seems to be getting heavier with every sentence uttered. "We can't find her." He announces. "If Bella is on the run, there's no way we'll find her." He levels a gaze directly at Damon.

Damon shrugs, unwilling to admit that they might not get their sister back after all. "She could come back here. If she's heard that we're still alive, she will." Stefan doesn't acknowledge his brother's attempt to comfort both of them.

"But," Elena's eyes flit questioningly between both brothers. "She could just as easily be halfway around the world?" Her guess is spoken uncertainly, hesitatingly. She doesn't want to make things worse but she doesn't want either of them to get their hopes up.

"That's Bella." Damon agrees. "She'll go where the wind carries her. She'll stop it if she wants to. She'll go against it if she wants to. But the point is that unless she wants us to, we'll never find her."

Dots connect in Elena's mind and the words are unthinkingly blurted out before she can think to censor them. "Sounds like Katherine."

Her eyes widen as soon as the words leave her lips. "I'm sorry." She speaks quickly. "I shouldn't have-" Expecting a spirited rebuttal or vehement denial, Elena is surprised to see both brothers straighten up with feverish eyes.

"They could have crossed paths." Stefan muses.

"Bella would have loved Katherine." Damon speculates disdainfully. Their sister would have adored the she-devil, a wild thing set free in the world.

"She would've figured it out, the truth." Stefan states confidently. Bella would've noticed something wrong with Katherine, and she was bright enough to connect the dots on her own.

Damon lets the thought sink in for a moment. "Eternity to travel and explore… Bella would have loved that."

"And she would have convinced Katherine, who wouldn't have needed much convincing in the first place." Stefan's hands clench in fists as Damon growls.

"Katherine." He spits, disgust dripping from each syllable.

Elena, who had been watching the conversation much like one would watch a tennis game, speaks up. "I'm sorry, but you guys lost me."

Damon turns to look at her. "You're a genius!" He smiles brightly.

"She is." Stefan agrees proudly, dropping an appreciative kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you," Elena clears her throat. "But this doesn't explain anything."

Damon starts pacing the room, his mind racing a thousand miles an hour as he mutters to himself. Stefan brings Elena up to speed.

"Katherine and Bella had been travelling around the same time, roughly. Katherine was heading here while Bella was leaving. Somehow, they would have crossed paths. And if Katherine had played up her freedom, Bella would have happily befriended her."

"And Bella, Salvatore genius that she is, would have figured out Katherine's little secret." Damon says with equal parts of pride and dread in his voice.

Elena's mind races to catch up. "She would have eternity to do anything she wants…" She muses out loud, unknowingly convincing the brothers.

"Katherine turned Bella." Stefan concludes.

"Before she met us." Damon adds. The room is silent as all three occupants try to deal with this recent turn of events. Eventually, Damon speaks up, shocking both Stefan and Elena with his murderous growl.

"I am going to _kill_ that bitch."

Stefan nods, in agreement or consent - _p__robably both_, Elena thinks. No one speaks up to continue the conversation as each is left to their own thoughts. Elena, mind still reeling from all the horrible truths she's discovered, can't help the question that has been tugging at her mind for the past few minutes.

"What happens when you mess with other vampires?" She finally asks, then wishes she hadn't. Stefan's eyes dull and Damon's lips settle into a grim line.

"The consequence for inter-vampire mingling," He intones slowly, unwillingly. A shudder rips through Elena's form at his answer.

"Is death."

* * *

**This one's the longest chapter so far. Some noticeable changes here, though it doesn't really make a difference in the long run. I just switched things up a b****it.**

**So, did anyone catch the _Fringe _reference?**

**Please don't hesitate to drop a line; it's always great to hear from readers, both new and old.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	5. Four

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Four : Surprise**

* * *

A sense of dread permeates the Salvatore household and all of their minds from that day onwards. Damon's words, a fact voiced out loud, weigh heavily on all three of them. The brothers try to move on, try to control their anticipation and their fear, but the possibility of their sister's return and the inevitable fall-out of her actions are on their minds constantly.

Elena soldiers on, trying to keep the Salvatores together even as her own world falls apart. Monsters exist, all of them. Stefan and Damon have a sister. Stefan is pulling away from her and even Damon seems dead inside. Everything has changed and nothing will ever be the same again, and even though she just wants to scream about it to the world, she is forced to keep everything to herself and put on an act for her unknowing friends.

Caroline is released just days after the accident, her miraculous recovery baffling her doctors. Elena has her suspicions and wonders if Damon is trying to make amends. Matt comes to her seeking advice, and she plays matchmaker to her friends with a smile on her face even as her heart aches for her own deteriorating relationship. Bonnie is the only one in the know, but she is unable to grasp the enormity of the situation, choosing instead to mend bridges between Elena and herself.

A few more days pass and they find Mayor Lockwood's funeral upon them. The mayor's brother, Mason Lockwood, returns to his family and puts himself in harm's way by getting on Damon's nerves. The vampire, looking for a way to distract himself, provokes the man they later find out is a werewolf.

Damon snaps his neck immediately, and his actions push Stefan overboard.

* * *

"You can't just go around snapping someone's neck every time you need to feel better!"

"So I should just sit around and do nothing like you?" Damon retorts accusingly, matching Stefan's glare.

"We're waiting for _Bella_!" Stefan protests.

Damon rolls his eyes dismissively. "Our baby sister is not going to just walk up and knock on the front door, _brother_." His eyes are narrowed and his tone is condescending. "She's on the run. Do you understand what that means? Or what if they've got her, Stefan? What if they found her, huh?" Damon voices out the possibility both of them have studiously avoided considering. "Have you thought of that?"

Stefan falters, but quickly regains his composure. "So what do _you _want to do, Damon? What _can_ you do? Chase after rumors and weak leads? Ask around for someone who is on the hit list, and not to mention, has been hiding for decades? You'll be giving them the chance to use _us _against Bella, don't you see that?" He tries to stay logical and comes up with these excuses, weak excuses justifying the fact that he's sitting at home while his sister faces the worst kinds of danger.

"She's our _sister_, Stefan! Fuck all of that." Damon growls. "I'm finding her and I'm bringing her _home_."

Damon turns around and heads for the door, Stefan hot on his heels. His sister is missing and his brother is leaving.

"What if she doesn't want to come home, Damon?" He asks softly, unwilling to even think of this as a possibility.

Damon's hand freezes on the doorknob for the briefest of seconds.

And then he's gone.

* * *

Damon has been gone for six days.

In the wake of his abrupt departure, Stefan has battled guilt, rage, fear and sorrow. Guilt for pushing his brother away, for being selfish enough to stay rather than find his sister. Rage at Damon's impulsiveness, at his accusation. Fear for his reckless brother and his sister who is ten times worse. Sorrow for their family, their broken family.

Elena displays righteous indignation, standing by Stefan's side. Damon should have known better than to leave in the heat of the moment, putting them all in danger. She isn't being selfish – this concerns all of them. A few days ago, Stefan had miserably brought up the fact that those responsible for carrying out the punishment are known to be old-fashioned… in that they punish a whole family for one's sins. This involves Stefan, Damon and Bella. And who knows who else they'll chase after once they've arrived? Once again, Elena is left fearing the worst for her loved ones.

Stefan is slowly shutting himself down, keeping to himself and staying at home, hunting only when absolutely necessary and shunning unnecessary company. It's a battle for her to win each day, the right to go over and comfort him. She has never been this worried for him. She's driven to confide in Bonnie, who sympathizes and promises to try a tracking spell. This seems to wake Stefan up and he is quick to offer his blood, as strong a tie to the both as any.

Bonnie tells them not to get their hopes up and promises them nothing. She eyes them warily as they watch the ritual with hopeful eyes and repeats herself before starting. She's back in less than half a minute, apologizing for the lacking information – she had only been able to track them for less than ten seconds, not long enough to actually find them.

But it's okay. Everything's okay and Stefan's okay. Because now he knows where his family is.

Virginia.

They're coming home.

* * *

Sure enough, Damon comes strolling in just days later.

It still shocks them into silence though, and he tries to fill up the silence on his own as he walks in with bottles of liquor. "We were running low," is the first thing Stefan hears his brother say after two weeks of absence.

Before he can recover and ask about Damon's little trip, the elder Salvatore ushers them both into the kitchen. "Come on, I figure I owe you guys a meal after all that worrying."

Stefan and Elena sit down wordlessly, still taken aback by Damon's sudden and casual return. To Elena's utter disbelieve, Damon starts rummaging through the contents of the Salvatore kitchen and sets about preparing dinner.

He is momentarily distracted from his task at hand when Stefan clears his throat. Damon looks up and turns to his brother with a smirk in place, but quickly sobers up when he catches sight of Stefan's concern clearly expressed in his eyes.

"She'll come home when she's ready," He states, eyes earnest in a way Elena hadn't even known him to be capable of. "I know that now, Stefan." He assures his brother. Tearing his eyes away from his brother's, Damon focuses on his preparations as he repeats himself with more conviction.

"She'll come home when she's ready."

At that very moment, the shutting of the front door reaches their eyes and all three are by the kitchen doorway within seconds. Damon and Stefan share a cautious look before positioning Elena behind them as they make their way to the main entrance as a group, with Stefan and Damon in the front, protecting Elena.

"I'm home!" A female voice calls out cheerfully. She sounds so sweet and innocent, _too _sweet and innocent, that for one horrible second Elena thinks to brace herself for a face-to-face meeting with her ancestress, Katherine.

And then she is faced with the sight of the most beautiful vampire she has ever seen.

She has Stefan's eyes and Damon's hair, though her raven hair falls in curls that cascade down her back and over her shoulders. She stands tall and poised, but her eyes twinkle with a certain girlish ease and her lips are quirked up in a wide smile.

"Bella." She gasps unthinkingly the second her mind makes the connection. Just in front of her, Stefan and Damon remain frozen, shocked into stillness by the sight of their baby sister, in the flesh, undead and alive after so many years.

The newcomer grins and throws up her hands.

"Surprise!"

* * *

**Welcome back, Bella! And now the fun begins. **

**We have a few more chapters of third-person P.O.V left, and then we're switching to Bella for the second part. It makes more sense that way, you'll see.**

**So what do you guys think of all this? Is it really different from the original, and in a good or bad way? Or are you a new reader? And if so, what are your thoughts on the story so far?**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	6. Five

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Five : Home**

* * *

Elena quickly learns that patience is not Bella Salvatore's strong suit.

After waiting for all of five seconds, Bella rolls her eyes and barrels into her catatonic brothers, shocking them back into the present. Stefan pulls his sister into his arms and holds her tightly, eyes closed in relief as Bella sighs happily.

Damon hovers nearby, still not quite present. His eyes take in the sight of his baby sister after a hundred and forty-odd years of missing her. Immortality suits her, he observes grudgingly. Bella remains fair-skinned and bright-eyed, but gone is the sixteen-year-old he had routinely smuggled out of the house and into the woods, the one with childish features and a boy's figure.

In her place stands a striking young woman with stunning angular features, curves to give any supermodel a run for her money and an air of confidence and power, sophistication and control, the kind his Bells would never have possessed.

But it is her, he knows it is. He knows because her hair is still a curling raven mess like his. He knows because her green Stefan-like eyes still twinkle with a zest for life. He knows because there she is, standing right in front of him, eyes wide and swimming with love.

"Bella." He murmurs. His sister breaks into a grin and jumps into his arms, leaving him rushing to hold her up. He pulls her closer and hides his face in her mass of curls as he feels tears drip from Bella's eyes onto his shoulder. She wraps her arms around his neck and takes a deep, shuddering breath.

"Hi, Dae."

Up until the age of four, Bella had been unable, or too lazy, to pronounce _Damon_. She had dropped the second syllable and had taken to shrieking her nickname at all times, day and night, when she was longing for her brother.

Choking down tears of his own, Damon pulls back to get another look at his sister. Same wild hair, same smiling lips, same shining eyes.

"You're back." He says, somewhat dazed. Bella laughs despite the tears trailing down her porcelain cheeks and removes her hands from his neck to wipe away tears.

"Talk about pointing out the obvious, Da-"

Bella stops mid-sentence and squeals as Damon picks her up, quickly securing her arms around his neck again. Her brother twirls her around, smiling and laughing and telling everyone that _she's back_ with increasing wonder in his voice.

Finally, Damon sets her down. She buries her face in the crook of his neck, the same way she had done for the first sixteen years of her life.

It feels like home.

* * *

After a quick tour of the house during which Bella had repeatedly expressed her joy at the unchanging nature of the Boarding House, they find themselves in the kitchen, earlier preparations for dinner long forgotten.

Bella has kept up a running commentary on everything in her line of sight, with quick asides that reveal her knowledge of her brothers' lives. She knows Stefan is on an animal-only diet, she knows who Elena is, she knows what Damon's been up to. The trio wonder just how she's gathered all of this information, and when Elena finally voices this aloud, Bella dismisses the question with a wave of her hand.

"_Of course _I know all about my family," She says simply before going back to her judgment of the remodeled kitchen.

Damon cuts her off mid-sentence when he places one hand on top of her own. "Bella." For the first time since her return, he regards her with a serious look.

Bella sighs and looks around the table, at Stefan and Elena, at Damon who sits in front of her. "I know," She begins, straightening up. "I've got some explaining to do."

"I ran into a vampire in New York a few months ago, who recognized me from decades ago. Ben and I had been good friends during the '70s, and I'd brought up my brothers a few times. He knew that I wasn't sure about you two, whether you were turned or… dead." She hesitates on the last word, having apparently come to the same conclusion as Stefan and Damon had. The brothers frown but Bella gives them no time to speak up, continuing with her account of events.

"Ben travels a lot, and when I last saw him almost forty years ago, he'd promised to keep an eye out for two Salvatores. A few years ago, he stopped by Florida." Damon pays close attention to his sister; he'd been in Florida a few years ago… and he'd had a drinking partner, one called Ben.

"He made the acquaintance of one Damon Salvatore." She shoots her brother a smile. "Excellent drinking buddy." Damon smirks, thinking of the vampire who could drink anyone under the table… except him. He remembers Ben, the easygoing, laid-back young vampire who'd preyed on sorority girls with him. Their conversations had mostly revolved around alcohol and the sad state of humanity, and Ben had never even hinted at knowing his sister.

"But he never talked-"

"About me?" Bella cuts in. "Yeah, I made him swear to never tell anyone about me, not even you two. There have been times when that would have been for the best."

"Staying away from your brothers would have been for the best?" Stefan questions, a little more sharply than he had intended to. Damon frowns but waits for an answer from Bella.

"I've been up to some crazy things," Bella shrugs. "And in some situations, being a lone wolf has served me well."

"Anyway," She goes on, putting an end to that line of conversation. "After catching up with Ben, I visited a few old friends… who would talk about nothing but the second Petrova doppelgänger."

Elena's eyes snap to attention. Bella had greeted her enthusiastically, going so far as to call her the latest addition to the family, and they've shared smiles, but that's all. And now she's somehow involved in Bella's return.

"The first doppelgänger, as we all know," Bella wonders if anyone notices the way she's avoiding the vampire's name. "Had made quite a number of enemies. News of her return to Mystic Falls spread like wildfire, and before anything could be confirmed, there was an angry mob planning to take her down." Elena shudders at the thought of it; Stefan berates himself for never having thought of this.

"I did some digging around, asked some questions and figured out that the girl in Mystic Falls was, in fact, a different Petrova. A new one. And when I heard of two vampire brothers guarding her…"

"I just knew it was time to come home." She concludes casually, a shrug thrown in for good measure. She hopes to have thrown off her brothers for a little while, but they aren't easily distracted.

"That's great, we're glad you're back and all that, but it doesn't explain why – or how – you left in the first place, Bella." Damon points out.

"And how you turned into a vampire whose reputation precedes her." Stefan adds to the list of questions.

"All good questions, brothers." Bella praises as she gets to her feet. "And all will be answered in time, I assure you. But for now," She casts an eye around the kitchen and spots Damon's abandoned work.

"I think it's time for dinner."

* * *

Bella orders everyone out of the kitchen, disguising her need for space as dinner preparations. Damon tries to stay, offering to be her sous chef, but she smiles and tells him she's in the mood to show off her culinary skills and doesn't need to share the credit with him.

It takes a while and a lot of convincing but eventually she is left alone in the kitchen with dinner as her responsibility. She slices and dices with her eyes on the food, her mind on the last few hours and an ear trained on her brothers' hushed conversation a few rooms away. They're trying to keep quiet, their tones the equivalents of vampire whispers, excluding Elena from the conversation. She catches every single word.

"She's hiding something." Stefan says, though he sounds more worried than accusing. Damon agrees, mentioning her obvious attempts at stalling. She can hear Elena's footfalls, repetitive in their distinguishing patterns – she's pacing, then. She hears liquid sloshing into a glass – Damon – and a body sinking into a chair – Stefan. He asks if she's okay; Damon takes a moment to contemplate, and admits that he's not too sure.

A phone beeps then, and Elena speak up, telling her brothers that it's from someone called Caroline and that she needs to go. Stefan offers to accompany her but she declines, citing 'girl talk'. Damon snorts.

She hears movement, and then Stefan and Elena appear in the kitchen. "It was nice meeting you, Bella." Elena smiles sincerely, and she puts down the knife in her hand to cross the room and envelope the girl in a warm embrace; Elena is surprised.

"I'll see you soon, Elena." She smiles, unspoken acceptance in her voice. She'd left home before Stefan had really started dating, so she doesn't know how her brother usually acts around girlfriends. But he's happy with Elena, she can see it in the way they're almost always touching, the way he smiles at her with his eyes, the way she looks at him like he's the best thing to have happened to her. They're happy and so she's happy for them. She'll get along just fine with Elena.

Stefan lingers while Elena gathers her things, as if unwilling to even let Bella out of his sight again. She turns around and resumes her chopping, but Stefan's questioning gaze remains pinned to her back.

"Yes, Stefan?" She asks sweetly without turning around.

Her brother is silent for a while, contemplative. And then he sighs and decides to say something safe.

"It's nice to have you home, Bella."

She turns around then, a bright smile on her face.

"It's nice to be home."

He nods, still smiling, and retreats. She waits a few seconds for his footfalls to fade before putting down the knife and bracing herself against the kitchen counter, eyes shut tightly.

She's still not sure if she's made a mistake in coming back… if she's protecting or endangering her family.

* * *

Elena comes back just as she's serving dinner and she wonders if that's unusual, for her to be gone and then back in such a short period of time. She's out of her depth when it comes to girl talk and the likes, so she doesn't know if it's supposed to take ten minutes or an hour. The last friend she'd actually had chats with would stay up all night with her, having no need for sleep or any sort of rest.

She stops herself at that, unwilling to travel down the rabbit hole of memories and focuses, instead, on carrying out a bowl of salad. The kitchen had been surprisingly well-stocked for a house of two barely-around, liquid-diet brothers.

She enters the dining room, which she had asked Damon to clean up, and finds her brothers and Elena seated. It's odd, she knows, to breeze home and then make everyone have a proper dinner, especially since she can't remember the last time she'd had a proper, sit down dinner.

But that's exactly why she's gone through the trouble of doing this. She hasn't had a proper dinner in ages, and of all the memories she has of these meals, the ones with her family are the only ones yet to be tainted. Sure, it's different having Elena here in her father's place, and nothing's exactly the same anymore, but it's nice to sit down at a table with her family and just be together. It's normal.

She sits down next to Damon and in front of Elena, and plasters on a smile. Elena smiles back, but her eyes are curious. Stefan looks at her as if she has something to hide and Damon eyes her as if to tell her that he's going to find out just what.

She picks up her cutlery and smiles, a little less enthusiastic than she had been a moment ago.

"Bon appétit."

* * *

**Hmm, I wonder just how awkward that dinner is going to be… imagine Stefan and Damon so very curious, yet respecting Bella enough not to question her at the table. And of course there's Elena who's feeling like a fish out of water. Maybe this is why no outsiders hang around during family reunions. **

**Don't forget to let me know what you guys think of the story so far!**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	7. Six

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Six : Origin**

* * *

"Wow, Bella," Elena speaks up in between bites of food. "This is amazing."

Bella smiles. "Thanks! I learned it from-" She comes to a halt for a split second. She'd learned it from a motherly vampire, one of the two that she'd once known. She doesn't talk about either, not anymore. "Food Network." She lies smoothly.

Elena nods, having missed her short pause. It was just short enough for Damon to have noticed though, and he lets her know with a questioning look. She pretends to have missed it and turns her attention to Elena.

"So… you're a junior, right?"

Elena looks up from her plate, a little startled at having been singled out. "Yeah," She nods. "Do you go? To high school, I mean."

Bella regards her curiously before remembering that Stefan is enrolled in the local high school, a fact that had probably prompted Elena's question. She considers the question for a while – the answer is a simple _no_, but should she add that this time last year, she had, in fact, been a high school student? A junior, just like Elena. But that little fact would probably lead to questions that she isn't ready to answer just yet.

So Bella tells Elena that she doesn't go to high school and that's that for conversation.

Her little family dinner is much more awkward than she had expected it to be.

* * *

After dinner, Damon of all people volunteers to clean up. Bella tries to help out but is told that she's done enough, and should go sit down for a while. So while everyone else cleans, she ventures upstairs and into her old room.

It's almost exactly the way she left it that night, decades ago.

She lingers in the doorway, taking in her old bed, her mother's vanity, the one her father had moved to her room on her thirteenth birthday, the quilt Ruby had made for her… With a barely audible sigh, Bella enters the room and sits down on the bed. She tells herself that if she were to lie down and close her eyes, everything would be back to the way it was: easier, so much easier, and happier, and safer.

She almost believes that she really can just rest her head against those familiar, dusty pillows and close her eyes to transport herself back in time, back to that rainy night when she had waited for the entire household to go to sleep before jumping up and tip-toeing down the stairs, creeping past the many rooms, slipping out of the house.

She should never have left.

Oh, God, she should never have left.

Suddenly, she feels as if she's suffocating. It's too much – her bed and her mother's vanity and Ruby's quilt, all untouched, as if waiting for the girl she had been to come back. But she's never going to come back, that girl. She's dead. She's been dead for a long time.

And this vampire, this monster who wears her face and smiles her smile and laughs her laugh, she has no right to be here, no right to take this innocent girl's place, to take the memory of her and twist it the way her existence has been twisted and turned into a dark nightmare.

Jumping to her feet, she runs out of the room and shuts the door behind her and keeps running, turning a corner where she should go downstairs.

She takes a left and is faced with a door that looks like it hasn't been opened in centuries.

It's been less than two centuries, really, but it feels like forever since she had last set foot into the bright, airy room where she can vaguely picture her mother dancing and twirling in bright dresses, singing and laughing. It feels like a different lifetime, and it is.

Tentatively, she reaches out one hand and sets it on the doorknob. Her shaking fingers won't curl around the brass knob, though, no matter how hard she tries to still herself and _just open the door_.

She stands there for a long time, observing the door as if it's both impossibly heavy and non-existent. She can't go in, she can't move it. But she feels as if she can see through it, into the room, and in her mind's eye, she sees her mother and her brothers and herself, barely a toddler.

She stands there until her memories come to an end.

And then she falls to her knees and tries to muffle the sobs that escape her, the tears that she cries for her mother and her family and the girl she once was.

* * *

Bella descends the stairs just as the others make their way to the living room and fits her hand in the crook of Damon's arm.

"Story time!" She announces with mock enthusiasm, and Damon laughs at her expression which tells him that if she had things her way, they wouldn't talk about this ever.

"After that little disappearing stunt you pulled a century and a half ago, you kind of owe us, little one." The last time he'd called her that, she had punched him in the arm.

She doesn't disappoint, raising her fist to his shirt-clad arm. "Ugh. Again with the baby sister crap." She rolls her eyes.

Damon smirks and wordlessly leads her to the living room, where she chooses to sit by the fireplace. Stefan had started a fire just before they'd walked in and it's going strong, casting a warm glow over Bella, who's stretched out on the ground like a lazy cat. She's flopped on her stomach, hands holding up her head as she crosses her legs.

Even like this she manages to give off an air of grace and maturity, and Damon wonders just what his little sister has gone through to grow up this much.

Stefan and Elena are sitting together, leaving an armchair for Damon. He chooses instead to remain standing; it's a natural instinct, the need to be free to move – and escape – at all times, one that after years of being a vampire, has seeped into his bones.

"Alright," Bella sighs once she realizes that everyone's in position. "Let's get this Spanish Inquisition started."

Damon raises an eyebrow at her choice of words but decides to speak for all of them.

"Start from the night you left." He orders, and she quickly launches into her story.

"Two weeks before our _houseguest_," Bella sniffs disdainfully, still trying to avoid her maker's name for as long as possible. "Was to arrive, Father and I had a falling out over some trivial room arrangements or the likes. Honestly, I can't even remember what it was about. It was no worse than our usual spats. But this time, for some reason, I felt like I was being… replaced." Her eyes, which had been focused on the roaring fire, drop to the ground momentarily, as if embarrassed by her former weak, self-doubting character. She pulls herself into a cross-legged position and makes herself focus on her audience.

"That evening, I planned to leave. I knew there was a war raging on, and that it wouldn't have been safe for a lady to travel on her own anyway, so I went to speak to the staff. Father was not aware of their growing paranoia and discontent. They were treated horribly and put in terrible danger when we sent them out at odd hours on their own to run errands, and many wished desperately to leave… if only they could secure their finances."

Damon chuckles as Bella continues, having figured out a decades-long mystery. "So I gathered a few maids and guards… and I paid them to come with me. Father really should have known better than to leave his valuables lying about." She grins.

Stefan, who had been puzzled at Damon's reaction, lights up with understanding. "Father always assumed the help had stolen from him and made off like bandits." He tells his sister.

"And all along the real thief had been his innocent little princess." Damon smirks, a hint of pride in his voice.

"What can I say?" Bella shrugs modestly. "I learned from the best."

Elena watches the siblings interact without making a sound, a bright smile on her face. It's nice to see the Salvatores together, happy and normal, bantering and teasing like any other family.

But of course she's quickly reminded that they're anything but normal when Bella resumes her hundred-something year old tale.

"I left that very night, taking my little group, a carriage and a few horses that I knew Father wouldn't miss. And we set out for the world, finding safety in numbers. Naïve little things that we were, thinking the world had nothing more to offer than the threat of war and criminals."

Her eyes turn dark for a moment as Damon and Stefan share a worried look. But Bella quickly shakes herself out of it and puts on a mask before either can prompt her.

"It rained every bloody day, I remember. Heavy rain and muddy roads slowed us down so much, and of course they brought about some less than desirable twists… like road accidents." She braces herself for what's coming next, knowing that she'll have to talk about her maker – _their _maker, she amends, observing her brothers – in great detail now.

"We bumped into Katherine Pierce's carriage on the third day of our road trip." She bites her bottom lip nervously as she awaits her brothers' reactions. Stefan crosses his arms and Damon sets down his glass in order to ball up his fists, but neither say a single word, seemingly willing to let her finish her tale.

"I had been in a terrible mood, never having cared much for the rain. And when the accident had happened, all I could think about was getting down to snap at the driver for his incompetency – uncalled for, but it would have been a small source of comfort."

"And then I saw Katherine for the very first time, with one attending holding up an umbrella and one holding up her skirts… apologizing to my driver. It was a most curious sight."

Her audience grows suspicious; the brothers know from personal experience that Katherine is neither fond nor polite of the help and from what Elena has been told, this is completely unlike her ancestress.

"Later on, of course, I would realize that Katherine had been looking for a meal and had hoped to draw forth young noblemen or the likes from my carriage, not a sixteen-year-old runaway."

"But that's what she found… and for some reason, she didn't really mind. When she heard that I was travelling far, far away from home, she asked to come along."

Her brothers growl, knowing that this is the beginning of the end. Bella sighs, looking back on this time of change with mixed emotions; immortality has brought her a great many wonderful things, but lately she finds herself wondering if these extraordinary memories outweigh the pain, loss and danger she has been put through.

"And we all know that what Katherine Pierce wants… she gets."

She speaks these words with an accompanying sigh as her eyes drift to the dancing flames, and for a moment, a pause long enough for everyone to notice, she loses herself in the past.

When Damon softly calls her name to draw her back, she gets to her feet and heads for the bar, pouring herself a drink the way Damon would. He comments on her actions, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Hey, watch it. Immortal or not, you're still sixteen, missy."

She snorts, putting on a mask for everyone else's benefit. But her words do little to comfort them. "Trust me, Damon – this sixteen year old has done far worse than having a drink."

There's an uncomfortable pause in the air as she inadvertently brings up that which they have all avoided. No Salvatore here has been left unchanged by the transformation, and the passing years certainly haven't helped. But in the same way she refuses to see her brothers as murderous predators, they refuse to acknowledge the changes in her, changes that they've surely noticed.

She lowers herself to the ground near the fireplace and pulls them away from lingering on this thought.

"Katherine and I… we were good together. It seemed unlikely that a worldly vampire and a somewhat-sheltered girl would get along, but somehow we just… _fit_. And we had great fun together because of that connection. We were young, beautiful and mysterious, and there wasn't a quaint Virginian village spared from our poking and prodding."

"Nothing could drive us apart, not even my occasional bouts of melancholy and Katherine's routine disappearances. And the night I sliced my palm and witnessed, with my own eyes, her transformation, she told me of a stolen child, a lost family and being abandoned, disowned and sent away. My tale of simply being unhappy seemed childish and spoiled in comparison, but she supported me and accepted me, and declared us a new family."

She sighs heavily, downing her drink in one gulp. Damon rises to his feet wordlessly and gets her a refill, pulling her to sit with him as he hands the glass back to her. She allows herself to be seated in the armchair with her brother and tries to draw what little comfort she can from the fact that both Stefan and Damon are here and alive and somewhat happy.

"But try as I might, I could not simply forget my old family. And when it was time for Kathy," She slips up and addresses the vampire by her nickname, the one only Bella had been allowed to use, and feels Damon tense up next to her. She continues on, hoping to cover up her little mistake. "To leave for Mystic Falls, I was miserable. First of all, she was going to leave me for the family I so desperately missed, but could not return to – I had tasted freedom and to return would be to sentence myself to unhappiness and never-ending fights with Father. On top of that, Katherine and I had been going through a rough patch, something unheard of in the course of our brief friendship. I was young and foolish and tempted by the idea of power, of eternity, and Katherine was reluctant to change me."

Stefan, Damon and Elena are visibly taken aback by this. She prods her brothers for answers.

"It's just that…" Stefan shrugs reluctantly.

"We assumed Katherine had forced it upon you." Damon tells her, carefully waiting for a reaction. She beats down the urge to blurt out that she wishes it had been so, that she wants, more than anything, to blame the tragedy that is her life on someone other than herself, to be able to sleep at night knowing that she hadn't been the one to sentence herself to this. But she simply shrugs and goes on, because even now, in the presence of the only two vampires she trusts and loves, she cannot help but put up walls, the same walls that have ensured her survival ever since the early days.

"Katherine was reluctant to change me," She repeats. "She believed that vampires were incapable of true emotional bonds, that we could try as hard as we wanted to but in the end, we wouldn't be able to fight our true, predatory nature forever. Vampires are natural lone wolves, and that Katherine and I had bonded with one vampire in the mix was a miracle in itself. She was convinced that if I were to turn, it would only be a matter of time before she would lose me."

"But then, for the first time in her life, Katherine acted unselfishly. She went against her own wishes to grant mine, because as she had once said, I was born to be a vampire. Many have said that immortality becomes me, but Katherine was the only one to say it in those exact words. And so, with a heavy heart and bright, tearful eyes, Katherine turned me."

"And she lost me, eventually."

Bella had lost Katherine too; she had lost her sister. But she doesn't tell her brothers that, doesn't tell them that for a long time, she struggled to do the right thing, to honor their memory by abandoning their killer. She doesn't tell them that her heart ached for Katherine and the loss of her almost as much as it mourned for her brothers.

"But first," She pushes on, determined to get all of this out in one conversation – it's hard enough to keep everything straight now; she would surely slip up if her brothers keep prodding her after tonight. "She left me in the care of a sweet, motherly vampire while she left for Mystic Falls."

"Matilda tried to help me, to comfort me, to entertain me." She smiles fondly, thinking of the older vampire. She had never heard of her again, not after the night she had abandoned Katherine. "But despite the distraction of being a newborn, I could not get my mind off the fact that Katherine had left me to deal with the transformation on my own. I could not get over the fact that while I was struggling, and trying _so_, _so_ hard to be a good vampire, she was off with my family."

"But days passed and eventually Katherine came back." She almost slips up, almost calls her by that girly nickname. "And I comforted myself with the thought of her coming back for me."

"But she hadn't come back for me… she had escaped from danger." She fights to keep the bitterness inside her hidden, to keep her eyes carefully blank and her tone even, but the memories of those dark days following Katherine's return threaten to shatter her careful mask.

"A town-wide witch-hunt." She declares with a brittle smile, a bitter twist of her lips that fools no one. "That's what she had called it. That's what had killed Pearl and Anna, the lovely family that had stopped by just the day before my change. That's what had driven the fearless Katherine Pierce out of little Mystic Falls. That's what had killed my brothers."

She slips up in her effort to hide her emotions and the last, painful line comes out so flat and cold that Damon, _Damon _of all people, shudders. She lies to herself and makes herself believe that it's just the thought of his own death that had him chilled, but she knows deep down that on a primal level, her brothers are inexplicably and unwillingly intimidated by her.

"Katherine told me that my entire family was dead and claimed full responsibility for it, though she never clarified whether she was directly to blame. I was driven mad by grief, and there came daily occurrences when she would have to forcibly restrain me for my own good." In all of her years, that had been her one suicidal period. She sees guilt in her brothers' eyes and tries to comfort them.

"I imagine I was quite extreme," She assures them. "Being both a teenage girl and a newborn vampire." It does little to comfort them but then again, that's about as much as she can hope for.

"Eventually, I could think straight again. I stopped sleeping through the days and starving myself, and my mind became more than a jumbled mess of pictures and regrets. And once that happened, it was impossible not to realize the damage that had been dealt upon our relationship."

"I left that night, and Katherine watched from the window without even trying to stop me. It was her greatest moment of humanity."

She closes her eyes for a second to fight off the memories, the image of her slowly, determinedly walking away from the house, from Katherine, from the only family she had left in the world. She had felt Katherine's eyes on her back the entire walk, long after she had vanished from sight. And when she reached the edge of the woods, she had stood under the moonlight for a long, long time, willing herself not to look back.

She didn't. She _couldn't_.

Eyes still closed, she curls into her brother as he runs a hand through her hair, the way he used to when she was a little girl who cried over not having a mother to brush her hair.

Finally, she draws a deep, uneven breath and opens her eyes to Stefan and Elena quietly watching her.

"And that," She smiles sadly. "Is only the beginning."

* * *

**The chapter title is, of course, in reference to the fact that this chapter is all about Bella's origins as a vampire. If you've read the original, then you'll notice that the flashbacks – a major part of the original Chapter Six – are missing. The next chapter will be titled '1864' and will be flashbacks-only. **

**As usual, drop a line! Say hi! Tell me what I'm doing wrong!**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	8. Seven

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Seven : 1864**

* * *

_**Late Spring**_

_The passing days brought with them rumors of summer although spring itself felt like fall. The trees were unusually barren and the skies worryingly dark as it rained continuously, and Isabella Salvatore was convinced that come June, her little group of travelers would find themselves stranded in the midst of an iced forest rather than a blooming field. Her companion, Ruby, was quick to laugh at such notions, telling the young girl that she should know better than to question Mother Nature._

_But the young girl believed in no such mystical forces and was not easily persuaded out of her dark moods. Young Bella had never cared much for the rain; as a child, she had enjoyed puddles but never the rain, the continuous patter against her roof and the chilly air that had kept her indoors. And as she matured, she had found herself constantly indoors, always occupied by activities Giuseppe Salvatore had deemed appropriate for a young lady of her social stature._

_There were art lessons and music lessons, lessons in history and lessons to prepare her for the future, lessons about this and that and everything she would never need to know, and Bella was positively miserable, especially on rainy days when she would have liked nothing more than to curl up for a nap._

_But the young girl, observant and quite bright, really, soon discovered something wonderful: sunny days, the ones when even the thickest of drapes could not keep out the warm rays of sunlight, made her tutors feel like curling up for a nap. And Bella quickly found that if she could nod along silently and stick to her own work for long enough, each and every tutor would soon nod off while waiting for her to complete her assignment. And as soon as the faintest of snores were heard, Bella would silently rise and tip-toe out of the study, shutting the door with great care behind her, before dashing out of the house and into the woods, where she would be free to dive into the lake and feel the sunlight warming her skin as she floated along the surface._

_But those sunny days were few and far between, and never before had Bella missed them as she found herself missing them in the spring of 1864, running away from home at a snail's pace as her entourage made frequent stops for shelter and rest. Bella was often annoyed, disgruntled and irritated, and it showed in the way the usually polite and kind mistress often snapped at her group._

_As Ruby attempted once more to soothe her, a terrible bump jostled her as the carriage came to a halt. She groaned in irritation as Ruby leapt to her feet and hopped out of the carriage, holding out a hand to help her mistress step out._

_It was, predictably, raining and Ruby motioned for a girl to hurry over with an umbrella, which the young girl held over Bella's head as the girl in question took in the scene. She was greeted by the distressing sight of a broken wheel, her incompetent driver and another young lady, presumably the occupant of the other carriage, standing with two attendants at her side, one holding up an umbrella and the other her employer's long skirts. _

_The lady was focused on Bella's driver and Bella quickly took advantage of her distraction to observe the newcomer. She had dark, meticulously curled locks, half of which were pinned back to reveal brown eyes and beautiful features. She was dressed in a tasteful, well-tailored dress made in the lightest shade of celery green and had donned a matching coat to ward off the ever-present chill in the air. But all of this beauty paled in comparison to the smile that played on her lips and in her eyes, a striking smile that made Bella realize just how beautiful this woman was. _

_And kind, too, as she was apparently apologizing to Bella's driver._

_How very curious._

_Before she could further ponder this unusual twist, the young lady had taken notice of Bella and had glided along – her movements were so very graceful – to introduce herself. Bella quickly composed herself and smiled apologetically._

"_I do so apologize for this accident, Miss…?" She trailed off questioningly._

"_Pierce," The lady smiled, and it was truly an experience to be faced with that smile, one complete with dimples and sparkling eyes. "Katherine Pierce."_

"_Isabella Salvatore," Bella nodded in return, and both went back to assessing the situation at hand. One of Bella's front wheels had been ruined, though she could not quite picture this damage being caused by a simple bump. It was certainly suspicious, but Bella was more concerned of the difficulties she would now face._

"_I'm afraid, Miss Salvatore, that your carriage would appear to be out of commission." Miss Pierce remarked, her smile fading._

"_Bella," She corrected unthinkingly, still pondering the consequences of this accident. "Everyone calls me Bella."_

"_Well," Miss Pierce smiled, though more subtly than before. "I'm Katherine, then."_

_Bella made an effort to tear her eyes away from the destroyed wheel and give her companion a smile, although it was perfunctory. She had hoped to make considerable progress this week, but with the little distance they had actually covered and this complication, her plan was rapidly deteriorating._

_Miss Pierce… Katherine observed her closely. "Where are you traveling to, Bella?" She inquired._

_Bella sighed. "Nowhere, it would seem." Her plans would have to be put on hold, she decided, while the group worked on fixing this. She wouldn't be travelling anywhere at the moment._

_Katherine smiled kindly. "Where _were _you traveling to, then?"_

"_Oh," Bella stammered, acutely aware of the blush that tainted her ivory cheeks. _Far, far away from home _was not an acceptable answer, yet it was the truth. "Just here and there." She answered with admirable nonchalance. "Exploring the world and all that, you know."_

_Katherine clapped her hands together in glee, much like a child would. "How exciting!" She squealed, an infectious smile gracing her face. Bella's answering smile fell as she took in the sight of her disabled carriage once more._

"_Yes, it would have been." She sighed as Katherine's smile morphed into a thoughtful observation of her new friend._

"_And it will be." She said decisively after a short pause, and with a snap of her fingers, three men began to move Bella's belongings from one carriage to the other as Bella watched with wide, uncomprehending eyes._

"_Oh, Miss Pierce!" She gasped, motioning for the men to stop. "I couldn't possibly intrude upon you in such a manner. I'm certain you have travel plans of your own, and it would be most unfair of me to inconvenience you."_

_The brunette waved a hand dismissively as the men resumed their task. "Nonsense," She smiled, draping a slender arm around Bella's shoulders. She moved for her carriage and Bella was left with no choice but to fall in step. "We'll have great fun, you'll see."_

"_And call me Katherine." She smiled once more as one of the attendants hopped into the carriage and held out a hand for her mistress. "I insist."_

_Her mysterious companion disappeared into a dark carriage and Bella soon followed after her._

* * *

_**Early Summer**_

"_I'm back!" A familiar voice sang above the sound of the front door slamming shut. Bella jumped to her feet as she heard Katherine making her way through the latest residence they'd taken to living in, heading for the balcony to buy herself some time. She took deep, calming breaths as her hands frantically wiped away tears and tucked loose strands of hair behind her ears._

_But there was nothing she could do to hide her tear-stained cheeks and swollen eyes, and Katherine sighed sadly the moment she stepped onto the balcony. "Oh, Bella."_

_She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the quivering girl who was trying desperately not to burst into tears. Katherine held her close and offered her words of comfort, and it wasn't long before fresh tears were chasing each other down her cheeks._

"_Shh," Katherine soothed, running her hands through Bella's hair the way a mother would with an upset child. "It's alright now, Bella. Everything's alright."_

"_You don't know that." Bella hiccupped. "_I _don't know that." She said miserably. Katherine held her in silence for a few more seconds before pulling away to face her dear friend, feeling a pang in her heart at the sight of Bella crying._

"_Come," She held out a supportive hand. "We'll get you cleaned up and you'll tell me everything, and I'll make it all better." She promised, and she knew she could. A quiet moment and some carefully selected words spoken hypnotically would do the trick. Compulsion was not the right thing to do, Katherine knew, but it was the best thing, and lacking human traits of sympathy and empathy, it was the best she could offer her distraught friend._

_Weakened and weary, Bella allowed her friend to lead her inside. She remained silent, almost catatonically so, while Katherine dabbed at her cheeks with a wet cloth and pinned up her hair, keeping up a constant murmur of soothing words._

_Bella felt herself being lulled into a state of peaceful detachment, a dreamland of sorts where all that existed in that moment was the image of her staring blankly in the mirror Katherine had seated her in front of as her friend worked to put her together. She remained in this peaceful state even as Katherine smiled and pronounced her perfect, fetched her a warm drink and draped a blanket around her shoulders. Finally, Katherine turned her around and she was forced to face her friend's wide, concerned eyes._

"_Bella." Katherine spoke in the same hushed tone she had been using. "Bella, please say something. You know that you can tell me anything, and I'll try my very best to help you. I…" The usually confident brunette hesitated, as if grasping for words. "It pains me to see you so." She finally admitted._

_Bella remained catatonic, and a desperate Katherine reached out to shake her, albeit gently. "Bella, please!"_

_Bella's eyes widened, and she blinked a few times as if awoken from a trance. "Kathy?" She rasped, her voice low and rough with disuse, or perhaps from too much use, from the many sobs she had coughed out._

"_Oh," Katherine sighed in relief. "Oh, you're alright." _

_Bella took in her surroundings, puzzled as to how she had ended up sitting in front of her vanity. She forced herself to account for the last few minutes, but all that remained of her memories were vague flashes of sudden and extreme despair and longing._

"_Bella," Katherine called for her attention. She was met with careful eyes observing her own. "What is wrong?" Her friend questioned._

_Suddenly, the evening's happenings hit her like an oncoming train at full speed. Katherine had stepped out for a moment, as she often did, and Bella had retreated to her room, intending to pack her bags. They had grown bored of this small village and were to move on soon, and she was eager to be prepared. _

_First she had tackled the heap of dresses that she had strewn on every square inch of plush carpeting, hoping to fold them all into her trunk. By the time she was down to the last three dresses, the trunk was hopelessly full and so she had pulled out dress after dress, planning to start again._

_Pulling out the very last article of clothing, she was taken by surprise at the sight of an elaborately carved frame, one that held a picture._

_Pictures had been rare in their small town, but of the few pictures the townspeople did have, most were of and belonged to the Salvatore family. One had belonged to Bella specifically, a prized image of her family, her whole family, in younger and happier times. _

_The precious image of her parents, young Damon, toddler Stefan and baby Bella had been hers and hers alone, permanently displayed on her nightstand in a silver frame. The night Bella had escaped, the first thing she had done upon throwing open her trunk had been to impulsively grab the frame and carefully cushion it with layers of clothing._

_And within seconds of finding the picture, she had sunk to the ground, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe._

_Now, she stood from her seat and crossed the room, pushing aside discarded clothing to reach the empty trunk. Bracing herself, she reached out and picked up the silver frame, one of her mother's, and wordlessly handed it to Katherine, squeezing her eyes shut to keep the tears at bay._

"_That is my mother," She started shakily, eyes still closed. "And that is my father, and that is me, and those… are my brothers."_

"_Oh, Bella." Katherine murmured, keeping her eyes on the photograph of a happy family, her mind conjuring up a similar image of a similarly ideal family, one that had met a tragic end. She was well aware of the Salvatores, of the dead wife and the cold patriarch, of the three children, two boys and one girl, a family that was to open their home to her in a few short weeks. And of course she had quickly caught on to the fact that Bella was, in fact, _the _Isabella Salvatore, notoriously isolated and well-protected heiress of the Salvatore name and fortune. _

_But she had easily pushed these facts to the back of her mind during her days with Bella, a young, innocent girl who wanted nothing more than to have some fun and to live life, to really _live_. She was nothing at all like what those gossipy village girls had painted her to be, a snobbish woman-child who had a stick up her posterior, nose in her books and an air of arrogant superiority. But then again, Katherine should have known better than to give those rumors any credit; after all, jealousy was the mother of all nasty rumors, and Bella was certainly someone worth being jealous of._

_Now the sight of Bella standing motionless, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she wrapped her arms around herself as if to keep herself in one piece broke her heart. Bella missed her family. Bella loved her family._

_As if unable to take the silence, Bella started speaking. "I couldn't breathe there. I couldn't live. I was suffocating and drowning, and I just had to get out, and now that I have, I won't ever be able to go home. Never again." She drew a shaky breath, her lips quivering._

_Katherine stood to embrace her, but Bella sat down in front of the mirror, resting her head in her hands. Katherine settled for a comforting hand on her back. "Oh, Bella," She sighed. "I'm sure it's not that bad. Your family will certainly have missed you, and they will welcome you back with open arms should you choose to home. Everything will be alright, just you-"_

"_Stop, Katherine! Stop telling me everything will be alright!" Bella cried, jumping to her feet, unintentionally pushing away her friend's hand. Katherine stared wide-eyed at her, shocked by her outburst._

"_It won't be alright! Nothing will be! Don't you see? I cannot go home! That small town will _kill_ me. They'll have me trapped and married off and kept away like a songbird, and I will _die_, Katherine."_

_Suddenly, Katherine's perception of the matter shifted. It wasn't that Bella had no choice… but that was exactly the case. She could go home any time she wished, but she would be locked up and left to wither like a rose. And so she could never go home._

"_I have no more family, Kathy." Her distraught friend sobbed and Katherine stepped forward just in time to catch her as Bella crumpled to the ground. "I have no more family."_

_Katherine lowered them to the ground and held Bella in her arms, keeping her close. Blinking away tears, Katherine put on a brave smile._

"_I'll be your family, Bella." She assured the girl._

"_I'm your family now."_

* * *

_A few days later, Katherine returned just in time for dinner. They'd moved on and settled in another place, a small town this time. Katherine had found them a comfortable home with a nice older woman who looked after them and kept them fed._

_That night, as she served their dinner, Mrs. James kept up a constant chatter about the town's latest gossip. When she had exhausted those fascinating pieces of news, she moved on to updates from nearby towns._

"_Oh, and the Sheriff from Mystic Falls came by today, to meet Sheriff Charles. Mary over at the bakery told me they're looking for a missing girl." Bella, who'd just picked up her knife, unconsciously curled her hand around the edge._

"_Some rich young thing, I hear. Sheriff said she's pretty, too. Said the family is willing to do and pay anything if someone would just find her. I reckon she was taken, poor soul." Katherine pinned a look on the chatty woman, her eyes flashing in warning. The woman blabbered on obliviously._

"_Italian family. Salva-something. Gee, Miss Bella, what did you say your name was again?" She turned to Bella and clapped a hand to her mouth. "Miss Bella!"_

_Bella's grip on the blade had tightened, and red drops of blood began to make themselves noticeable. Jumping into action, Mrs. James reached forward to pry Bella's fingers open and remove the knife from her grasp, grabbing a clean napkin to dap at her young guest's hand._

_Katherine watched in horror as Bella's wound came into sight. It was deep and serious, bleeding profusely. There was so much blood._

_Katherine had not fed that day. She hadn't fed in four days._

_She dropped her cutlery, intending to jump to her feet and escape to her room, but noise of her cutlery falling had drawn two pairs of eyes to her as her eyes darkened._

"_Miss Katherine!" The older woman gasped as Bella's eyes widened._

_Katherine thought to excuse herself but she could feel her fangs out. Keeping her lips tightly sealed, she turned around and ran to her room._

_Pulling her hand out of her companion's grasp, Bella raced after Katherine only to be met with a closed door. She hesitantly raised her undamaged hand to wrap around the doorknob as her breathing evened. Her heartbeat slowed down from a frantic pounding to a pace somewhat acceptable and the sound of blood rushing in her ears faded. What had she just seen? _

_Ever so slowly, Bella turned the knob until the door swung open a crack. She slowly pushed her way in, casting her eyes around the darkened room, searching for Katherine. She was nowhere in sight. Bella stepped in and closed the door behind her, aware of Mrs. James's prying gaze on her back._

"_Kathy?" She whispered before catching sight of gauzy white curtains swaying in the night breeze. She crossed the room to approach the balcony and cleared her throat in an effort to make her presence known. The last thing she wanted was to take Katherine by surprise._

"_Kathy?" She tried again before stepping out._

_And there she was, hands braced on the railing, taking deep, regulated breaths._

_Katherine remained motionless, staring at the moon. "If you could please just give me a moment, Bella. I must've gotten something in my eye." She spoke with a noticeable strain in her voice._

_As Bella contemplated leaving her friend, she was not made privy to Katherine's berating thoughts. How could she have slipped up? She was Katherine Pierce, Katerina Petrova, a professional vampire if there had ever been such a thing. Being a vampire was something she was good at, excelled at. And being able to control her nature was her most prized skill. So how could she have slipped up in such a horrible manner?_

"_Katherine," Bella called, pulling Katherine into the present. She felt a hesitant hand settle upon her shoulder before growing heavier, more confident. "What's wrong, Kathy?"_

_Katherine debated her next course of action. After a few more seconds of staring at the full moon, she turned to face Bella's concerned eyes. It was time to tell her the truth._

"_Bella," She slipped away from her friend's touch, leading them to a pair of wicker chairs. "I think you should sit down." _

_Bella, eyes wide and curious, complied wordlessly. She watched as her usually composed friend inhaled deeply, as if bracing herself for something._

_And then, she spoke._

"_I was born in the year 1475." She started, and though Bella's ears heard every single word after that and her mind absorbed the story, it took her a while before she could fully accept the implications of Katherine's first sentence, after which she struggled to keep up with tales of childbirth and loss, being exiled and sent away, being trapped and used, turned and hunted… punished._

"_Kathy," She gasped as Katherine clinically detailed the massacre of her family, resorting to a well-rehearsed story rather than a personal account of events to keep her emotions in check. Katherine stopped after that, and a long pause followed which Bella broke by throwing her arms around Katherine, who seemed to be in shock._

"_I've never told anyone that." She whispers hoarsely._

_Bella had no words to offer Katherine, only comforting touches. Eventually, Katherine raised her own hands to wrap around her friend's in return._

"_I'm a vampire, Bella." She sobbed, her confession muffled by Bella's curls. "I'm a vampire."_

_The young girl held her friend tightly, her lips hardened into a grim line even as she found acceptance in her heart._

"_It's okay, Katherine."_

"_It's okay."_

* * *

_**Mid-Summer**_

"_Kathy," Bella spoke up one day as she folded a dress, neatly positioning it amidst similarly kept clothes in a trunk. They were to leave at nightfall for a cottage Katherine had called home, where they would rest for a few days before Katherine left for a while. She had assured Bella that she was not obliged to sit around and wait while Katherine travelled, but Bella didn't quite mind the idea of resting for a while. A new environment every few days did get old after a while._

"_Hmm?" Katherine hummed distractedly, occupied by the same chore._

_Bella hesitated, unsure of how Katherine would react to her prying. But they were friends, and friends were free to ask where friends planned on going, were they not? Especially close travelling friends. "Where is it that you're going?"_

_Katherine paused in her actions for a moment before plastering on one of her signature distracted smiles, the ones with far-away eyes. "Mystic Falls."_

"_Oh." Bella faltered in her movements for a few seconds. Katherine was visiting the home she could never return to. The town that she had fled was Katherine's next destination. She forced her mind not to linger on these thoughts._

"_And when do you need to be there?" She questioned in a pleasant, casual tone, as if she wasn't bothered in the least._

_Katherine eyed her with concern. When Bella's expression remained unchanging, she sighed. "In three days."_

_The journey to Katherine's cottage would take the better half of a day, excluding whatever ground they would cover tonight. And using what little geographical knowledge she possessed, she calculated that if Katherine were to make it on time, she would have to depart immediately following her goodbye to Bella, which was not the plan. "Will you make it there on time?"_

_Katherine grinned. "I'm sure they will wait even if I don't." Bella nodded. Katherine was worth waiting for and she was well aware of it. The girls lapsed into peaceful silence once more._

"_Kathy?" Bella spoke again, a questioning lilt in her single spoken word._

"_Bella…" Katherine sighed, knowing just what was to follow. They had been through this particular matter almost daily since Katherine's revelation of her nature. Having figured out the mechanics of the transformation, Bella knew that it would be easy for her to turn herself – just this morning, she'd cut herself once more and had fretted over the possibility of scarring. Katherine had rolled her eyes, pricked a finger and squeezed a few drops of blood into her friend's tea, telling her to drink up. The wound had healed immediately, not a scar in sight. Now, with Katherine's blood in her system, it would be so simple to just kill herself and wait to be turned._

_But Bella wanted – _needed _– her friend's approval, or blessing. She needed to know that Katherine was alright with her being a vampire, that she would accept Bella's choice and stand by her for all of eternity. After all, with the exception of Katherine, Bella was all alone in the world, and though she was in love with the idea of travelling the world forever, she was certain she would be driven mad by loneliness within the first year._

_Katherine had not taken well to her decision. At first she had insisted that Bella was far too young to make such a choice. And then there had been a series of informative lectures on the downsides of being a vampire. And now, Katherine spoke up, revealing the truth behind her reluctance._

"_Vampires are lone wolves by nature, Bella. It is in our blood, our system. The predatory instincts to be on your own, to put yourself first, to be the best… you cannot fight it. No one can. And over time, as we lose our humanity and forget being human, we begin to surrender. We give in. We stop feeling, start fighting. We sever emotional bonds and lose the ability to form lasting attachments, to feel."_

_Bella stared uncomprehendingly at Katherine, a vampire quite a few hundred years of age. Had she lost the ability to be attached, to feel? And if so, what did their friendship mean to Katherine?_

_The vampire hastened to explain herself. "You and I are an unusual happening, Bella. That we were able to get along at all was a miracle itself. And that we care for each other like sisters is most certainly a miracle." She smiled at the thought of their close friendship, but it did not last for long. "But there are days when I do struggle with my nature, with the instinct to keep everything to myself, to lie for protection, to leave and never look back."_

"_And it does not get easier, Bella. I have fought every fiber of my being to remain here, with you, and I will continue to do so every single day of our friendship. And it is tiring, so very tiring, but rewarding and well worth it."_

"_But once you turn… once _both _of us must fight daily to maintain our friendship… it will not last long. We will fall apart and I will lose you, Bella." Katherine choked down a sob at the thought._

"_Katherine." Bella reached for her friend's hand and grasped them in her own, locking eyes with the vampire's brown orbs._

"_You will _never _lose me, Kathy. I promise." She vowed, her voice strong and clear. _

"_But…" Katherine protested weakly._

"_Katherine." Bella called, nearly pleading. "Please, Kathy." She hesitated before crossing a line that she had always shied away from. "If you are truly my friend," She looked Katherine in the eye. "You will grant me this one favor."_

_She put on a mask, one of confidence and triumph, as if certain of the outcome, hoping to sway Katherine. But the act was betrayed by her last desperate plea._

"_Please."_

_Katherine considered her friend's request. She had been taken aback by Bella's willingness to use their friendship against her… it had reminded her of herself, her manipulative ways._

"_I really do like you." She sighed as a half-hearted last attempt, knowing that it was a lost cause trying to convince Bella that she was fine just the way she was, human and alive and innocent. But Bella was well on her way to becoming something else – had always been, perhaps. She was turning into Katherine, whether she realized it or not. "You remind me…" Katherine hesitated, certain that her words would be taken falsely. "Of me."_

_Bella grinned, pleased. She had assumed that being like Katherine was a good thing, that it made her a perfect candidate to be turned. "That is a yes." She stated, her green eyes certain and victorious._

_Katherine remained silent, choosing instead to take in the sight of Bella, human and happy and whole, and commit it to memory. Bella, young and innocent and kind, selfless, wonderful and loving, bright and free… impulsive and reckless and willing to sacrifice everything for immortality, dead set in her ways, stubborn to a fault._

_She did not want emotional words, or a goodbye of sorts, or even a thank you from Bella. She did not want gratitude for the sin she was about to commit – the biggest mistake of her life that would surely haunt her. If Bella thanked her for this, she would feel _sick_._

_And so she reached out and, before panic could settle upon Bella's features, she snapped the raven-haired girl's neck._

_Cradling Bella's lifeless form, she fell to the ground and settled in for hours of self-contempt and hatred while she waited for Bella to return to life as one of the dead._

* * *

_**Early Autumn**_

_Bella jumped up as her ears picked up on a slight creak as the doorknob was turned. She waited anxiously for the door to be pushed back, and in a matter of seconds it was, slowly and hesitantly._

"_Bella." She was too excited and ecstatic to notice the rasping tones of grief and pain in the familiar voice that had called for her._

"_Kathy!" She jumped to her feet as Katherine was fully revealed to her. Racing across the room, Bella flung her arms around her dearest friend, the one she had been missing for the better half of summer._

_It took her a few seconds to realize that Katherine had not said a single word, had not moved a muscle except to form a tiny smile and had not returned the hug._

"_Katherine?" She pulled back with questioning eyes. Katherine shied away from her, unable to look her in the eye. "Katherine." She repeated more urgently. "What's wrong? What has happened?"_

_Still avoiding her eyes, Katherine sat down on Bella's bed and raised her hands to her face, obscuring her features from Bella. She settled down next to her friend, wrapping a supportive arm around her shoulders._

_Katherine felt _horrible_. She was wretched, and vile, and despicable, and oh, what had she done? What had she _done_?_

_It couldn't possibly measure up to what she was about to do._

"_Bella…" She drew a shaky breath, convinced that this would be for the best. It would kill them to find out what she had become, their little sister, and besides, she would lose her if they knew of her existence. She would lose her only family._

"_Bella…" She tried again, forcing words out of her mouth. "Bella, your brothers…" She choked on a sob._

"_My brothers?" Bella questioned sharply, taken aback._

"_Stefan… and Damon… they're…" She steels herself and looks Bella in the eyes, her vision distorted by unshed tears._

"_Bella, they're dead."_

_She squeezed her eyes shut, a cowardly move, and braced herself. Moments of silence passed and she hesitantly opened her eyes to find Bella frozen._

"_Bella, say something." She begged in a whisper._

_The young vampire laughed weakly. She laughed, and laughed, and laughed until she cried._

"_You're joking, Kathy. You're joking." She chanted, over and over again. Katherine was joking. Katherine was testing her. Katherine was hurting her. Even that was more likely to be the truth than… _this_. No, no, it wasn't the truth. It wasn't happening. It hadn't happened. Katherine was joking._

"_You're joking, you're joking, you're joking." Katherine was joking and that was the lie she would have to believe because it was her safety net, it was her parachute, it was a rickety bridge keeping her from falling, falling and crashing into reality, a place where her brothers were…_

"_You're joking. You're joking." _

_The moon retreated, the stars dimmed and the sun rose. She could not laugh or cry or even say a single word, not anymore. But she forced out three._

"_You're not joking."_

* * *

_Two days later, Katherine heard a commotion in Bella's room and hurried to the open door, where she was greeted by the sight of Bella smashing a chair into pieces and picking up a wooden leg, holding it to her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and held the makeshift stake high up as if prepared to stab herself._

_Katherine snapped into action and rushed to Bella's side, where she quickly ripped the weapon out of Bella's hands and threw it out of the window. Bella wordlessly bent down and picked up another leg, positioning it above her heart. Katherine knocked the stake out of her hands and captured both of Bella's hands in hers, keeping them in her hold._

_Bella fought back and pulled away using her newfound strength, temporarily shocking Katherine, buying herself a few seconds to run out of the room. The older vampire gave chase and caught up to her just as she wrenched open the front door, and quickly pulled Bella away from it, shutting the door behind them. Bella charged at her, mindlessly determined to get out, and Katherine braced herself against the door, blocking her exit. Bella turned on her feet and moved for the window; Katherine tackled her from behind and pushed her to the ground._

"_Let me go! Let me go with them!" Bella screamed, thrashing against her maker's hold. "Let me _go_!" Katherine kept her hands in place, fighting against Bella even as her heart shattered. Bella wanted to leave, to die, to follow after her brothers._

"_No!" Katherine shouted forcefully. "No!" Tears escaped her eyelids and stained her cheeks. "I won't let you go, Bella. I won't let you _die_!" Her voice broke on the last word; she absolutely would not lose Bella, not that way._

"_But they did." Bella groaned miserably, finally staying still. She curled into herself and her entire form shuddered as sobs wrecked through her body. "They died and so should I."_

_Katherine cautiously removed her hands and waited for Bella to move; she remained on the ground, sobbing and crying for her brothers, wailing for her family. Katherine's heart was absolutely broken as she stared at the girl, a former shell of herself, hollowed by grief and loss._

"_I won't let you go, Bella." She murmured as she gathered the broken girl into her arms. "I won't. You promised you'd never leave."_

_But even as she held Bella to that promise, she found herself wondering if maybe, for the first time, she could love someone enough to let them go._

* * *

_**Mid-Autumn**_

_Days passed and Bella only got worse._

_On the surface, she appeared to have recovered. After thirteen – Katherine had counted – long days of suicidal episodes, constant exhaustion and refusing to feed, Bella was now somewhat functional. Katherine could leave her in her room without keeping an ear on her movements, waiting for her to fashion a stake. She could make breakfast for two and know that Bella would wake up and go through with the motions of a routine without staying in bed all day. She could draw blood from willing victims and bring it back to Bella without wasting it. Bella appeared alright._

_But she wasn't, and neither was their friendship. Bella would not smile or laugh or joke. She would not go out and she would not enjoy herself. She had lost the light in her eyes and the spring in her steps, and gone was Isabella Salvatore, fearless explorer searching for more, more of the world and experience and knowledge. In her place was a hollow shell with brittle smiles and careful words._

_But she tried; Bella tried to fix them. She let Katherine sit in her bed and talk to her, she came out for meals and asked about Katherine's days, she let Katherine hold her when she cried._

_It wasn't the same, though, and Katherine knew it never would be. She knew that each time Bella saw her, she was reminded of that horrible night of her returning with bad news. She knew that each time Bella even considered thinking of her as a sister again, she was reminded of her brothers. She knew that each time Bella approached some sense of normalcy, the sight of Katherine ruined it all._

_She knew that for Bella to heal, she would have to leave, to break her promise and make Katherine lose her._

_And after thirteen days of holding her down while she begged for death, thirteen days of being on the receiving end of blank, dead stares, thirteen days of listening to Bella's nightmares each night… Katherine was ready to do anything for Bella._

_Even if it meant letting her walk away in the dead of the night as Katherine watched by the window, watching her leave even as it felt like each step that led Bella away was a stab to her heart._

_She stood by the window and she watched, and she let go of Bella and she cried._

_And when she had cried her heart out, Katherine switched off her humanity._

_It was for the best._

* * *

**Well, this one took a while. I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written in my entire fanfic-writing life. What a monster chapter of backstory, huh?**

**I don't think I've ever said this but I'm actually really, really fond of the relationship between Bella and Katherine here. It's one of my favorite things about this whole AU, topped only by Bella's relationship with a certain very old, very powerful vampire. But more on that in later chapters…**

**Don't forget: reviews are love and fuel, especially for this crazy girl who's just writing and writing and writing.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	9. Eight

**PLEASE READ : Following this chapter, you may have some thoughts, and perhaps very strong opinions. You might mistake this for a Twilight cross-over. You might mistake Bella for Isabella Swan. You would be WRONG. I'd just like to stress that this is NOT a Twilight cross-over and Bella is NOT Isabella Swan. Isabella Swan does not exist here. The events of Twilight did not take place. There is a coven, and it's made up of familiar people with seemingly similar personalities but the similarities end there. And these familiar characters just happen to be people Bella has encountered in her very long, full life. BELLA IS NOT ISABELLA SWAN. Please keep that in mind at all times while reading this story. Thanks, everyone.**

* * *

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Eight : Games**

* * *

"So let's hear the rest of it." Damon prompts, wanting to know all about what his sister has been up to and just how much trouble she's in.

"You first, smooth operator." Bella teases, exposing her knowledge of Damon's recent activities. She easily hides her disappointment. Damon has always been a charmer and popular with the ladies, but he'd never taken advantage of it back in the day. He had respected women and treated them with care, and for Damon to use or hurt a woman would have been unthinkable. And then he had been used and hurt and a vicious cycle had started. She is disappointed, but not in her brother, just in the way things had turned out. Damon had once had so much to offer. He still does, but his heart is hidden now, locked away.

Her brother smirks, eyes bright. "Oh, where to start…" He muses. Elena frowns and Bella feels bad for her. It probably isn't much fun, watching your boyfriend's bother flirt his way across town, especially your town, where you grew up with half of the female population and were raised by the other half. Each victim that Damon picks randomly, each stranger he drags to a dark alley – they're Elena's people, people she knows, people she has talked to, people she has laughed with.

It's just the way small towns are. Everyone knows everyone and if you're not a bitch, you'll probably get along with everyone. She knows all there is to know about small towns. After last year, how could she not?

Damon sorts through his thoughts and gives her a few highlights. "I haven't really done much." He shrugs modestly. "Some parties here, some business there, a couple of snacks in between, drama every ten years and that's about it." Elena visibly flinches when Damon casually mentions 'snacks' and once again, Bella feels bad for her. This really isn't her world.

She playfully punches Damon in the shoulder. "I always knew you'd do great things." She says dryly before focusing on her other brother. "Stefan? What've you been doing?"

Her brother is about to speak when Damon interrupts and answers for him. "Oh, Steffie's got some stories to tell, Bella. Met an animal lover, fell off the wagon, massacred some settlements, joined a war… ask him about the disco era." He smirks. "I wish we'd taken pictures. I told you we should've." The last sentence is directed towards a very unpleased Stefan. Bella scowls, punching Damon in the shoulder once more, but with force.

"What was _that _for?" Her brother whines.

"Jackass much?" She mutters before turning to Stefan with a kind smile. "Don't worry about it, brother. We all did some crazy things in the '70s." She doesn't bring up his Ripper phase – which she is well aware of – and no one does.

Stefan smiles gratefully and answers her earlier question. "I've moved around a lot, but I check in with the remaining Salvatores every decade. A few months ago, I came back to visit Zach." She nods; she hasn't been back here ever since 1864 but she's kept track of the Salvatores, and Zach had been the last one… until his 'mysterious/accidental' death. "While I was passing through… Elena had an accident." Her brother and the brunette share a look, and Bella starts really paying attention.

"She was with her parents, and they'd driven off Wickery Bridge." She knows what's coming next: Stefan plays hero. "I dove in… and Elena's father told me to save her." She catches her brother affectionately squeezing Elena's hand as she smiles at him.

"When I saw her… I knew I had to know her. So I moved back." His eyes move to Damon. "And Damon wasn't far behind." Stefan smiles, but it's a nasty smile that she's never seen her brother wear, sardonic in a way.

Damon smiles and takes a half-bow. "Enter stage right." He quips. Bella turns to him with a stern look.

"Enter stage right and kill the only remaining Salvatore?" She accuses him, though she doesn't sound particularly upset about it.

"Yeah," Damon waves a dismissive hand. "Zach was an embarrassment to the Salvatore family." He reasons. Elena doesn't seem amused by this and Bella wonders if her distant, distant descendant was one of the townsfolk Elena used to mingle with.

"Sooo…" Damon starts casually. "What have _you _been up to, Baby Bells?" She shudders and crosses her arms over her chest.

"Nothing that you need to know if you insist on calling me _that_." She glares at him. Damon holds up two hands in surrender, faking innocence.

"Okay, okay! Don't be like that, Bella." He cajoles, and she accepts his apology – well, it's as close to one as she's going to get – with an eye roll.

"C'mon, tell us." Damon persuades her, and she gives in with a sigh.

"Nothing much, Damon. _Really_." She insists upon catching sight of his skeptical look. "Just kicking ass, taking names, playing games, that sort of thing."

Stefan frowns at how vague she sounds but it's Damon who speaks up. "Woah, back up there. Games?" He asks with interest.

"Yeah," Bella shrugs. "Eternity does get lonely when you don't have sorority girls fawning over you, Damon." She points out. Damon shrugs in a motion meant to say _I wouldn't know _but leaves it at that.

"What sort of games, Bella?" Stefan looks concerned and not entirely pleased. "Is this why they're looking for you?"

Bella, who had been subtly rolling her eyes and awaiting a lecture on responsibility, jumps to her feet the minute Stefan says that.

"Who's looking for me? How do you know?"

Her mind is racing to track every mistake, every slip, every possibility as she throws together contingency plans. They're still looking for her? He hasn't given up? Damn it. _This _is why she shouldn't have come home, but of course she did, and now he's found her and he knows and her brothers are going to-

"The Others, Bella." Stefan states flatly. "We know you've been messing with Cold Ones."

Oh. _Oh_. Her mind is numbed by temporary relief as it floods her system and she flops back down next to Damon, a smile on her face. Oh. Stefan doesn't know and Damon doesn't know and _he _doesn't know where she is. It's just that stupid Cold Ones issue. Oh, thank every higher power in fiction.

Stefan pins her with an expectant look, and she quickly covers her little panic attack. "Oh, that." She scoffs dismissively. "That's nothing. Seriously, it's child's play. Besides, no one can prove anything."

"But there _is _something to prove?" Stefan presses on, demanding information. Her smile grows in appreciation of the fact that she's safe, for now, and no one's found here and no one's going to hurt her brother.

So she sits down and tells them a story.

"Eternity not only grows lonely after a while," She shoots Damon a pointed look. "But also boring. So, so boring." She sighs. "And naturally, the only way to combat boredom is by mixing things up, trying new stuff… bending the rules once in a while." Damon grins when she mentions rules and not following them. Stefan looks… pensive, as usual.

She loves both of her brothers equally and to death, but sometimes Stefan just needs to chill out, relax and stop worrying so much. But she supposes that with an older brother like Damon, Stefan is right to worry all day and all night. Her eldest brother has always been fun, but if what she's heard is anything to go by, he's gone to the extreme in his pursuit of entertainment and amusement, recklessly endangering himself and everyone around him, leaving a trail of destruction behind him while Stefan is on clean-up duty.

But she's here now, and she'll fix things. She'll clean up and she'll teach him to be better, to see that he _can _be better, that he used to be better.

For now, though, she'll put him out of his misery and just tell them what she's been up to.

"Vampires are the ultimate predators, masters of the food chain, secret puppeteers behind human events. But we're controlled, ruled… limited. Limited to our own subset, our own… races. This means that there's so much out there that we don't know, so much that we're missing. And after a hundred years of wondering, the curiosity really just gets to you."

"Wait a second." Damon interrupts. "You messed with Others because you were _curious_?"

"Bored, actually," Bella corrects. "But curious, too. I've taken a liking to studying species." She shares. She doesn't tell them that it's the result of decades spent with an inquisitive vampire ruler, but the details aren't that important. Damon starts to say something, probably along the lines of her morphing into a scientist, but she cuts him off and sets them back on track.

"So I asked around about Others. We all know most kinds are localized and rare; sometimes only one or two of a kind exist. But Cold Ones are easy to find and easy to control, if you know what you're doing, and since there are so many of them, they've developed their own quirks and lifestyles, some of which are very interesting. Chief among these interesting covens was one in a small, rainy town called Forks… a coven of Cold Ones who co-existed as a family unit and fed exclusively on animals."

"Hey, Stefan! Bunny killers! Think you know 'em?" Damon grins. Stefan smiles despite himself and rolls his eyes. Bella smiles at her brothers' interaction. She'd heard rumors of a long-standing fight and deep-seated hatred, and of course she's witnessed tense moments of animosity between the two since her arrival, but once upon a time, Stefan and Damon were the best of friends and as close as two brothers could possibly be. So close that sometimes she felt left out. She needs them to remember that… and she'll help them if they can't.

"I won't deny that an entire coven of animal-drinking Cold Ones intrigued me, but I was more curious about their ability to live together in peace. Cold Ones are subconsciously primal, and our tendency to stay alone seems like nothing in comparison to their uncontrollable urge to remain lone wolves. They can't control it, and not for lack of effort. They're just naturally that way. So this was very, very interesting." Bella's eyes look glazed over, as if she's far away in her memories… or maybe her _studies_, Damon frowns to himself. He hopes his sister hasn't turned into one of those crazy scientists who would go to great lengths to study their own kind.

"There were seven of them." Bella tells them. "Six were mated – that's a Cold One thing: like swans, they mate once in their lives and that's it for them –" She explains a basic fact for Elena's sake; she had just been about to ask Stefan. "And the last was a boy around my age."

"He was my way in."

"I don't like the way this sounds," Damon warns her, squirming ever so slightly.

Bella smirks. "Don't worry, I'll keep it PG." Damon scowls but nods for her to continue.

"Edward Cullen." She states. "Loner, moody, reads people's mind in his free time…"

"A mind reader?" Elena beats the brothers to the question, her eyes wide and skeptical, just like the other two. Bella nods.

"Some vampires are… gifted. It's very rare, but it does happen, amongst all kinds. Cold Ones are known to have quite a number of gifted vampires, but whether that's simply because their numbers are higher or perhaps because other vampires don't feel a need to keep count is uncertain."

"When you say 'gifted'…" Damon prompts her.

"I mean _gifted_." She affirms. "Mind reading, clairvoyance, mental torture-"

"Mental torture?" Stefan echoes doubtfully.

"I once knew a vampire," His sister smiles slightly. "Who could bring you down to your knees and make you scream in agony with a single look."

Elena shudders and Stefan instinctively reaches for her even as he maintains his focus on his sister. "Please tell me you're not speaking from experience."

Damon turns to her, equally concerned. Bella laughs lightly. "Oh, _no_. No. She wouldn't do that to me."

Both brothers breathe imperceptible sighs of relief. They start to regard her curiously then, presumably having a million questions each. Elena worries her bottom lip and Bella worries that she might have hit her limit. There's only so much you can throw at a human, even if she's the doppelgänger. She quickly continues to avoid further questions on this matter.

"The Cullens had three gifted vampires in a coven of seven – that's a very high ratio, I assure you. Other than the mind-reader, they had a clairvoyant vampire and an empath of sorts. You can see why I was so eager to study them."

"Yeah," Damon nods. "Magic vampires. Of course. So what did you do next?"

"Vampires don't take well to curious Others, and certainly not visitors from our kind. We were the first vampires, the original race, and although they don't always acknowledge it, they do recognize it on some level, and have come to fear us. I wanted to study the Cullens in their natural state, not while they were defensive. So I posed as a human." She shrugs, as if it's a perfectly common thing to do. Perfectly sensible, yes, but pretending to be human is quite rarely heard of.

"You _what_?" Damon blurts in shock.

"I posed as a human." She repeats herself. "It's quite simple, really. I had papers drawn up and had a witch friend help me out. Different look, different species… the right witch would know exactly what to do. Mine did, and before long I took on the identity of Isabella Swan. The Sheriff, Charlie Swan had once had a family, nearly twenty years ago. But then his wife had taken his baby girl and skipped town, just like that. When I dug through the records, I found that they'd died not soon after, some accident or whatever. So I compelled sweet ol' Charlie and before long I was just another high school student living with her dad. The Cullens thought nothing of it."

"Can we just focus on the fact that you apparently got away with convincing a bunch of vampires that you were human?" Damon brings them back to an earlier point. Bella huffs impatiently.

"Really, Damon, it's amateur stuff. It's not like she brought me back to life or changed me. She simply cast a spell over me so that others would see me as a human girl." She explains once more. Damon shrugs.

"Okay, fine. Go on."

Bella rolls her eyes before skipping to the end of her tale. "I studied the coven for a while – they think of themselves as family, and they really have formed some sort of bond. It's quite fascinating. But I soon grew bored of living a fake, boring life, and after a few months, I cleaned up after myself and left. It was like Isabella Swan – 2.0, at least – had never existed." She smiles.

Elena is the first to speak up. "Bella…" She hesitates. "When you say you cleaned up after yourself…" The question is painfully obvious.

"Oh, not like that!" She assures Elena. "Don't worry. I simply destroyed my paper trail and compelled those I had come in contact with." Elena nods, a small smile of relief on her lips. Stefan smiles in approval. Only Damon remains unsatisfied.

"Back it up and go back to the part where you used some loser kid as your ticket into a family of vampires." He demands with a forced smile.

"Seriously, Damon," She crosses her arms. "Nothing happened, okay? He was very… old-fashioned." Not that those words had meant much to another who had been even more old-fashioned, but Damon does not need to know that. If he'd like to believe that this little fling with Edward Cullen had been her first relationship, then she's all for it.

"Old-fashioned?" Damon echoed skeptically.

"Yes, old-fashioned as in _I respect women, I was taught to do the right thing_," She quotes from memory. "_It's a sin, Bella_." She mocks in an exasperated tone.

Damon chuckles. "Okay, fine. That's a good kid there." He snorts. Stefan and Elena look painfully uncomfortable and Bella is itching to get away before Damon can keep questioning her.

"So that's that. I went to New York after and heard about you guys, and I came here. Is that enough, Dae?"

She is greeted by contemplative silence as all three go through her story in their minds once more. Stefan and Elena buy it, but Damon pins her with a serious look unlike any other she's seen since her return.

"Just one more thing." He promises her.

"God, Damon," She groans. "No, I did not sleep with that Cullen boy!"

"Not what I was going to ask," Her brother smirks. "But good to hear in those exact words."

She gives him a sheepish smile. "Oops. Go ahead, then."

"Bella," He reaches to grasp one of her hands, all business now. "These games of yours… are there any consequences?"

It's not the question she had been expecting and dreading, but it's a tough one nonetheless. How to explain that there are no consequences _for her_ because of who she is, when she can't tell them who she really is?

"Bella, are you in danger?" Damon asks after a moment's wait. She clears her mind and speaks up before her hesitation becomes obvious and prompts suspicion.

"Don't worry, Dae." She smiles sweetly. "I'm okay. We're all okay. Everyone's safe now."

Damon studies her eyes for a moment, as if searching for any signs of deceit. Eventually, he nods.

"Okay." He stands up and hugs her fiercely. "Okay."

She hesitates for a moment before wrapping her arms around him in return, hiding her face in his shirt.

She hates lying to her brothers.

* * *

**So… what do you guys think? If you skipped the note at the beginning, please go back and read it. **_**Please**_**. And I cannot stress these points enough: this is NOT a Twilight cross-over, Bella is NOT Isabella Swan. The Cullens are just like any other OC created for storyline purposes here. Please, please understand that.**

**Thank you and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this recent development.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	10. Nine

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Nine : Summer**

* * *

"Elena, here!"

Bella waves her over and she quickly makes her way to the empty aisle. The raven-haired Salvatore reaches out and wraps her arms around her for a quick hug.

"Hi!" She smiles, tucking her hair behind her ear. "So what do we have?" Bella gestures towards the cart in reply and Elena feels the corner of her lips curling up in amusement.

"Bella, when was the last time you threw a summer party?" She trails after her friend as she power-walks down the aisle, stopping only to throw more coffee into her cart.

"Hmm?" Bella hums distractedly as she peruses the tea selection. "Oh, a while." She says airily. "In the '70s, I think."

Stunned, Elena comes to a halt mid-walk and nearly bumps into the vampire herself. "The '70s?" She questions. It's always such a shock when Bella just throws out bits of trivia like that, revealing her true age.

"Yeah," Bella smiles, tossing a box of flavored tea behind her into the cart. "No, wait." She frowns. "Or was it the summer of love?" She shrugs. "I think so. Why?" She turns around to face her brunette companion.

Elena smiles gently, prying a glass jar of coffee beans from her hands. "Because we're going to need more than Pop Tarts, coffee and tea."

Bella glances at the contents of her full cart. "Oh!" She exclaims, laughing. She quickly scans through her choice and picks out half of her purchases to be returned to their rightful places. Elena watches as she handles a handful of groceries with ease, matching product to place without a moment of hesitation. Bella moves with a kind of grace that she finds herself entranced by – and it's not just her.

The youngest Salvatore has been in town for almost two weeks now. Her extraordinary beauty and friendly disposition had made her a hit amongst Elena's group of friends, and nearly everyone had complimented her on some trait or skill or even inherited looks.

Even Caroline, who had admittedly taken a while to warm up to the beautiful newcomer, had grudgingly pronounced her as 'graceful as Audrey Hepburn in a pageant for rich people'. Bella had taken it as a compliment and had praised Caroline's posture, and they had been inseparable ever since.

A tap on her shoulder brings her back to the present, where Bella greets her with a smile. "Earth to Elena!" She laughs, pulling the girl along with her as she moves to the next aisle. "I have no idea what kids like to eat and drink, so put me to work and send me to fetch… kegs?" She ends on a questioning note, a display of her cluelessness meant to make someone smile or laugh. Bella does that quite frequently, Elena has noticed. She has a tendency to self-deprecate but lightly and jokingly. She wonders what it takes for someone to just constantly want to make everyone around her happy. Maybe she's just appreciating life – every second, every minute, every day. Stefan and Damon have told her repeatedly that Bella _loves _life.

Focusing on the task at hand, Elena rattles off a list of things they'll need tonight and assigns Bella to hunt down half of them while she finds the other half. They split up and meet by the check-out counter in fifteen minutes, Bella arriving with empty hands.

Elena is about to question her when she notices a boy trailing behind Bella, holding a basket in each hand. They look a tad too heavy for the scrawny boy, a sophomore she recognizes from school.

"Isn't he _darling_?" Bella gushes as she saunters up to Elena. She waves for the boy to her selections on the ground. "Thank you, Gerald. You're very sweet." She smiles. Gerald nods hastily with a shy smile and scurries out of side, a blush burning against his pale complexion.

Elena is about to speak up and lecture Bella on the cons of compelling someone to help her, especially since she doesn't even _need _help with her supernatural strength, when Bella turns around and exhales exaggeratedly in relief. "Whew," She wipes away non-existent sweat from her brow. "Talk about eager puppies." She shares in a hushed whisper, turning around to pack things up before Elena can question her.

The brunette positions herself next to Bella and waits for the cashier to be occupied before turning to Bella. "Didn't you compel him?" She asks cautiously, keeping her voice low.

"Oh, no," Bella scoffs. "I didn't order the golden retriever; he just showed up."

Elena nods in acknowledgement. Bella draws admirers just like a Salvatore.

* * *

The girls arrive at the Boarding House just in time, according to Damon.

"Blondie was about to get her neck snapped." He threatens idly, directing them to the backyard where Caroline and Bonnie have started setting up. Bella punches him in the arm as she walks by, not amused with his attitude.

Damon rolls his eyes and hunts down Stefan. With all these girls around, the guys need to stick together.

"Just the brother I was looking for." He smirks, finding Stefan in his room. He's writing in his journal, as usual. Honestly, you'd think that with a girlfriend and a family, he'd have given up on that by now. Damon barely has enough time to handle Bella, so he has no idea how it is that Stefan manages to find enough time to do this every day.

"_Dear diary_," He mocks from the doorway. "_Today I just can't stop thinking of Cuddles, my very first bunny kill. Some days, I wonder if Cuddles is at peace."_

He expects Stefan to snap at him or come up with some nasty retort – he's finally getting the hang of those – but his younger brother merely waves him over. Curiosity drives him to cross into his brother's room. Stefan has never asked him to read his diary entries; not that he hasn't, but well, without permission.

"Did you draw Cuddles or something?" He jokes half-heartedly, coming to stand next to his brother. He peers past Stefan's sitting form to scan through his brother's handwritten entries.

"This isn't my journal." Stefan tells him, but he's already figured that out. It's a new book, with fresh pages and recent entries… on Bella? Stefan turns to look at Damon.

"Something isn't adding up." He states. Damon reaches for his notes and takes a closer look at them. He finds a list of dates and places, with huge gaps and question marks in between.

_1864 – Mystic Falls_

_1917 – Chicago_

_1964 – San Francisco _

_1971 – New York_

_2010 – Washington State_

"Notice the huge gaps?" Stefan points out unnecessarily. Damon scans through the list again.

"Where did you get this?" He asks instead. Stefan produces a few more pages of notes, more detailed.

"I've been asking around. We've met our fair share of vampires and they have connections. Think about it, Damon. How much has Bella told us?"

He's asked himself the exact same question countless times over the past two weeks. Bella has tossed out the occasional piece of trivia pinning her down to a certain place in a certain era, but the only thing they know for sure is that she had left Mystic Falls in 1864 and that she spent a few months in Forks last year before coming back here. Everything in between is a huge question mark to them while Bella seems to be aware of every single thing they've done since being turned.

"Are these all her?" Damon reaches for the other notes. Reported sightings in Virginia from the years 1864 to 1866. A mysterious heiress in New York in the early 1890s. Vague accounts of a raven-haired, green-eyed Isabella all along both coasts throughout the years… until 1917. They pick up again in the 1960s, but during the gap in between, no one had seen Bella in the country.

"Where did she go after Chicago?" He demands, one hand held out for more notes. Stefan has nothing more to give him.

"That's the thing: no one knows. As far as I can tell, no one even saw her after that, not until San Francisco. For almost fifty years, Bella was nowhere to be found."

"What are you saying?" Damon eyes him. "That Bella just disappeared for fifty years?" His mind is working hard to figure this out. Vampires have been known to keep under the radar, but it's unheard of for one to just… disappear for almost half a century. Wherever you go, you're bound to run into another vampire. And vampires talk – they don't forget you and they make sure that everyone knows. This is how they all keep track of each other. And he can't imagine someone like his younger sister staying inconspicuous for so long, not with the '20s and the war and everything in between. Bella would have been the center of attraction, leading everyone in protests and the likes.

Stefan goes back to his notes.

"I'm not saying anything, Damon. Just that Bella has been around for as long as we have, and we have no idea what she's been up to. Why has she been going around with different names? Why does she never stay in one place for any longer than a year?"

Damon's mouth hardens into a grim line.

"She's running."

* * *

"This is fun!" Bella grins at her unexpected discovery. When Elena had suggested a summer party at the Salvatore's, she'd been the only one with reservations. Damon was all for having intoxicated young people over and Stefan had never been able to deny Elena anything, but Bella hadn't been too taken with the idea of having children over in their backyards, drinking spiked Coke and blaring pop music.

But it's actually fun, to mingle with the humans and watch them socialize, to feel their energy. It's not unlike forcing your way into a crowded dance floor, but this is nicer, somehow. More quaint and simple, but more enjoyable, too.

Elena nods, observing the party with the youngest Salvatore. "Yeah, it is." She agrees before spotting Jeremy amongst the crowd. "Jer!" She waves to draw his attention, and the boy makes his way towards them.

"Elena," He smiles before greeting his new friend. "Bella." He nods in acknowledgement. Bella smiles and offers him a drink. She quite likes Jeremy – he's sweet and fun, and he has a good sense of humor, especially when it comes to pissing Damon off with their staged flirting.

Speaking of whom, her brother is stalking across the clearing towards them, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. Jeremy takes that as his cue to leave; even he isn't dumb enough to antagonize Damon when he looks like _that_.

Elena rolls her eyes and mutters under her breath. Bella hears her '_what now?' _loud and clear. "I think he's looking for me," She assures Elena and is proven correct when Damon reaches them and dismisses Elena.

"Sibling bonding." He shrugs, reaching out to curl his fingers around Bella's left wrist. "Keep the kids in line, Elena."

Elena huffs but walks off anyway, and Bella wrenches her hand out of her brother's hold. "What's wrong with you?" She asks, somewhat irritated.

"Oh, I'm not the one with a mysterious past, sister dearest." Damon smiles that infuriating smile of his and Bella crosses her arms across her chest, unwilling to play into his hand.

"Come on," Damon motions for her to walk with him. "We need to talk."

She reluctantly lets him lead her inside, and they settle down in the sitting room which is off-limits to the party guests. Damon heads for the bar where he's locked up all of the good stuff and pours himself a drink.

"Scotch," Bella orders without prompting. "This Coke is weak." She makes a face, holding up a red Dixie cup. Damon complies and walks over with two drinks in hand a moment later and they sit down in front of the fireplace. Bella curls up and faces Damon.

"Alright," She sighs. "What now?"

Damon adopts a serious look on his face. "Bella," He starts, looking at her. "Where were you in 1918?"

Bella's eyes widen and her drink almost slips out of her hands. 1918 – why that exact year? Why is Damon asking? _What _is Damon asking? He isn't just asking for a location, she knows that. But she can't tell him. Even a simple answer will lead to more questions, and she knows Damon will get the full story out of her somehow. She's not ready to talk about it. She never has before and she won't now.

She plasters on a smile – her best smile – and tells him a half-truth. "Oh, everywhere." She replies easily. "I went backpacking through Europe."

Damon's eyes widen ever so slightly in surprise. "Europe?" He echoes.

"Yeah, Europe. The Old Continent. It's quite popular, Damon." She clarifies almost patronizingly, but with humor in her eyes.

Damon scowls before quickly smoothing out his features. "And what did you do?" This is why she couldn't have told him the truth – he would've asked her this exact question and she really, really hates lying to her brothers.

"The usual. Saw the Eiffel Tower, dropped by the Colosseum… touristy things." She lists vaguely.

Her brother nods. "For fifty years?" He questions skeptically.

Bella inhales sharply as her eyes narrow. "You're _spying _on me?" She hisses.

"Think of it as your concerned brothers being curious because we care." He offers her an alternative.

"Brothers?" Her mind catches the keyword. "Stefan is in this too?"

Damon quickly realizes his mistake as Bella gets to her feet and stalks out of the sitting room. He sets his drink down and chases after her.

"Bella!" He calls, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, settle down. Stefan and I were just worried." He falls into step with her when he realizes that she has no intention of slowing down.

"For me or for you?" She seethes, catching him by surprise. He grabs her arm and pulls her back to him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He demands.

She scoffs. "Come on, Dae. We both know that you're suspicious. You've been trying to get info out of me ever since my return. You don't know what I've been up to and that scares you. You have no idea what I've done and if there are consequences, if I've put you all in danger."

He can't deny that the thought has occurred to him once or twice, and Bella nods, vindicated.

"Why can't you two just _trust _me?" She pulls her hand away and throws both in the air. "You're my brothers. You're my family and I love you. I would never do anything to harm you or put you in any danger and you need to see that!" She rants, her voice growing louder. Damon tries to calm her down before they start attracting an audience.

"We do," He tells her. "We do trust you. It's just that you've been missing for a long time, Bella, and we want to know all about you the way you know all about us." He explains.

Bella sighs heavily. "I've told you everything that I can, Damon. There are some things not worth bringing up and there are some things I'd rather forget." Pain flashes in her eyes and Damon is torn between pressing on or respecting his sister's wishes. "Please just trust that I would never put you in danger and leave it at that." She pleads.

He studies his sister, this stranger who's not a stranger. She's still Bella – she still calls him by his nickname and teases Stefan mercilessly and bickers with the both of them over the smallest of things. But she's different, too. She's mature and changed, and she's seen things he can't possibly imagine, and she's haunted by something. Damon, more than anyone else, knows how easy – how much _better _– it is to just keep everything buried when you're hurting. And he can't deny his sister this one escape.

He smiles and holds out his hands, a peace offering. Relief floods her eyes as she steps into his arms. "No more questions," He promises. "We trust you."

Bella holds on to her brother and holds back tears. "Thank you."

Damon pulls back after a while, his hands on her forearms. "Are you okay, Bells?" His eyebrows furrow in concern. He's not going to pry, but he needs her to know that he's here, if she needs to talk.

She puts on a brave smile, one that he sees through immediately. "I'm okay," She says, and he tells himself she's just not ready to talk yet.

"Okay." He nods, dropping it for now. A fast paced song starts playing and Bella groans.

"Ugh, I hate this song." She complains, and Damon laughs at how normal she sounds – almost like your average sixteen-year-old.

"Why don't you go back inside?" He suggests and she takes it into consideration. Finally, she sighs.

"Yeah, I'm kind of tired, actually." She admits. "Hundred-something years old and all that, you know." She tosses in with a cheeky smile, and he affectionately ruffles her hair.

"Go get some rest, baby sister." He smiles. Bella bats his hand away and nods.

"Tell everyone goodnight for me?" She requests, and he agrees.

"Sleep tight, Bella." She smiles and throws her arms around him for all of three seconds before pulling back and walking off.

Bella makes her way inside on autopilot, too tired to really take in her surroundings. She hasn't been sleeping well these few nights – the dreams have suddenly made a return, and they're going all out to disrupt her sleeping patterns.

She spots the back door and smiles to herself, eager to climb into bed. The lights from inside illuminate the first few feet of grassy clearing with a sliver of light. Bella stops in her tracks when a shadow flits across the undisturbed glow before disappearing with a rustle of leaves reaching her ears.

Standing back, she turns to where the sound had come from and finds herself peering into the darkened woods next to their property. The trees are closely packed and obscure her vision. Bella's face hardens into a grim mask and she stalks forward, each step carefully balanced, ready to stand against any ambush.

"I know you're there." She states in an even tone, calling for the intruder. "You might as well come out." She suggests, maintaining a nonchalant tone.

The leaves rustle again, and this time she catches a flash of pale skin as the mystery guest slinks further into the darkness.

"Damn it." She growls as she moves forward purposefully, stepping into the densely-packed woods. She strides ahead, pushing past branches and leaves.

Just ahead of her stands a silhouette, one that darts away the second Bella calls out for it. She curses under her breath and takes after it, darting through the woods as she gives chase.

Her target is definitely a vampire, one who knows the woods quite well, making all the right turns to avoid trees and rocks.

Until it trips over a stump and falls down.

Bella takes advantage of this and pounces on the vampire, identifying the intruder as a woman as they struggle against each other's hold.

Finally, she gains a chokehold on the woman and slams her to the ground, turning her around to identify her.

Moonlight breaks through the trees to illuminate their surroundings and her companion, and as Bella makes out prominent and painfully familiar features, she gasps.

The woman smiles.

"Hello, Bella."

* * *

**Who is it? You'll find out in a few hours, lovelies. Until then, remember that any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you for the readers who have reviewed and for all who have added me to your alerts, favorites and the likes. I'm glad to see some people enjoying this.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	11. Ten

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Ten : Separation**

* * *

Dread pools in Bella's stomach as she recognizes a face that she had last seen just minutes ago.

She takes a closer look. No, that is not true. The vampire she has captured and the sweet human girl she has befriended are nothing alike. The girl's brown eyes are warm and open; her captive's orbs are dark - dark enough to hide a hundred secrets and lies. The girl has happiness, love, friends… things that the vampire's dark side has cost herself. But on the surface, one would only notice their hair. The brunette who stands before her sports her familiar 'do, each lock of hair painstakingly styled into perfect, seductive curls. She will forever associate those dark curls with her estranged sister.

"Katherine." She breathes, a thousand emotions battling for dominance inside her.

"Did you miss me?" The first doppelgänger giggles her familiar, schoolgirl-like laughter.

Bella wants to scream _no_. She wants to throw Katherine to the ground, against the trees, far, far away from her family. She wants to drive a stake through Katherine's heart for everything she has done to the Salvatores.

But she had missed Katherine. She had missed the girl who had shown her the world, the girl who had supported her, the girl who had given her eternity. She had missed the girl who had loved her like a sister, the girl who had loved her enough to let go.

She would sooner die than tell Katherine the truth, even if they both see it in her eyes. "What are you doing here?" She hisses instead, maintaining her hold on Katherine. Katherine's eyes dim as she loses her smile.

"Bella." She pleads, her eyes tearing up. "Can we not move on from this? I've given you so much time and space." She reasons.

Bella resists the urge to dig her nails into Katherine's skin.

"_Move on_?" She echoes incredulously. She simply cannot believe the nerve of this she-devil. "After what you've done to me? To my _brothers_? I know, Katherine." She states coldly. "I know everything. I know what you did, I know that you turned my brothers. I know that you lied." She chokes on the last word, briefly overtaken by a sense of hurt. Katherine had betrayed her trust, but she'd never thought of it that way until now.

Sensing an opportunity, Katherine takes advantage of her distraction and jumps to her feet, pulling herself loose from Bella's hold.

She smirks as Bella scrambles to her feet, hands on her hips. "I'm your _maker_, Bella. Older and stronger." She reminds her friend.

"Did you come all the way to remind me of that, _Kathy_?" Bella snarls. "Or maybe you're not here for me. Back for Round Two already?"

Katherine flinches, a movement so small and controlled that it would be imperceptible to the human eye. Bella's eyes flash with something cold and cruel, almost as if this is payback for her, hurting Katherine.

"After all, you liked this game so much that you turned all three of us. Toys to keep for all of eternity, I suppose. Or maybe until you got bored of us. Would you have killed us after that, Katherine?" She demands. "Would you have killed _me_?"

Katherine chokes out a strangled sob. "Bella, _please_. I would never have-"

Bella goes on, relentless. Somewhere in her mind, she knows that the only reason her words are so hurtful must be because Katherine still cares, still loves her. But she ignores that thought and focuses on how good it feels to hurt her the way she had been hurt when she had discovered the true extent of Katherine's deception.

"Or just two of us." She suggests in a deceptively casual tone. "As I recall, you were only fond of one Salvatore. After all, you loved him so much that you made him stay. The other was just a toy, wasn't he, Kathy? _A real sweetheart_, that's what you called him." She sneers.

Her words are cold and sharp. "Maybe you would've killed the sweetheart and his sister. What do you think, _Kathy_? Maybe you would've killed Damon and I. You only ever loved Stefan, after all."

_Gasp_.

Bella's eyes dart about. That wasn't her, and it wasn't Katherine. Belatedly, she senses another presence. A familiar presence, just behind her.

Her brother.

"Damon." She turns around to face him, one hand outstretched as if to keep him in place and explain everything. But there is nothing to explain. He gulps, choking down his emotions, but remains in place. His pride keeps him rooted to the ground, arms hanging down his sides. Bella drops her hand.

"I heard a catfight," Her brother smirks, but his eyes aren't quite as light and mischievous as usual, Bella notes sadly. This is all Katherine's fault. Everything is Katherine's fault.

Their maker has fixed herself, standing tall with twinkling eyes and sharp shoulders, flirtatious smile in place as Damon addresses her. "Looking good, Katherine. What's it been – a hundred and fifty years?"

Katherine's lips quirk into a smirk as she smiles with her eyes. "Give or take, Damon." She shrugs, sauntering forward towards him.

Bella watches the scene with narrowed eyes and a heavy heart. So this is how Katherine had treated her brother – the exact same way she'd used all those other men when they had travelled together. She can't deny it anymore, now that it's happening in front of her very eyes: Katherine had used her brother, and now she's back for more.

Bella neatly steps in the way, blocking Damon's view of Katherine. Over her dead body will that devil ruin her family again. She looks up and catches Damon's eyes, speaking in a soothing, hypnotic tone. She hates herself for what she's about to do – can't believe what she's about to do. This crosses a line, a line she had promised herself to stay safely away from. Now she will do to her brother what she does to everyone else: she will make him forget for the collective good. This is for everyone's sake, even her brother's… Damon just wouldn't see it that way if he ever found out.

"Katherine was never here. Go back to the party. Send everyone home, then go and sleep this off. When you wake up tomorrow, everything will be okay." Her brother's eyes dim as she invades his mind and steals his will, and she feels sick, sick to her stomach and sick of herself.

"Everything will be okay." Damon repeats in a flat tone before turning around and heading back the way he had come. Bella pushes down her emotions and self-hatred before turning around to deal with Katherine.

Her arms are crossed, her face indifferent. But her lips are quivering ever so slightly and her stance indicates that she is prepared to make a run for it any second now.

"You compelled him." She accuses, working hard to maintain a smirk on her face as Bella stares her down. "My, my. Who would've guessed? Little Bella and the big, bad hybrid." She looks smug as she taunts her friend, as if this knowledge ensures her safety. Bella realizes with a start that Katherine plans to blackmail her.

She stalks forward, curling her fingers around Katherine's arm just as the older vampire tries to run. Holding her maker in place, Bella smirks. "Older and stronger, wasn't that what you said, Kathy?" Her fingernails dig into Katherine's skin, leaving behind bright red crescents that heal within seconds.

Katherine's eyes widen as she trembles in fear. She tries repeatedly to pull herself free but her efforts are futile and she knows it. She's already figured out what Bella has been through, who she's been with. _The big, bad hybrid_, she'd smirked.

"Bella, please!" She cries, still attempting to tug her arm free. Bella takes in the sight of her powerful, confident friend. The one who'd always been a step ahead. The one who'd always known what to do, what to say. The one who'd always lied.

"You ruined my family, Katherine." She hisses, and the truth finally hits her. Katherine had ruined her family. Katherine, the one she'd trusted, the one she'd replaced her family with… she had ruined them all, and only because Bella had let her in. Katherine had betrayed her and it hurts more than any other betrayal because she had been gullible enough to _let_ Katherine do this to all of them.

"You ruined _us_." She chokes on an unexpected sob. Katherine stills, her tearful eyes meeting Bella's.

"I never meant to." She insists. "I never meant to hurt any of you, Bella. It just happened. Please, Bella, you have to trust me. Please."

But she can't trust Katherine – she won't ever be able to trust Katherine again. Whatever trust they had shared is long gone and has been since the day Katherine killed her brothers. There is love, because the bond they had shared doesn't just go away. Their friendship will always hold a special place in their heart, but Bella cannot find it in her heart to forgive nor forget Katherine.

In 1864, Katherine had done the right thing. She had let go because she loved Bella enough to be unselfish. Tonight, Bella will do the same thing.

She looks Katherine in the eye. The doppelgänger tries to look away, but Bella's hold on her is too strong.

"Look at me, Katherine." She commands persuasively, and Katherine keeps her eyes on Bella's. The raven-haired vampire inhales deeply to keep herself focused. She can't cry, not now, not when she has to do this.

This is for the best.

For her brothers, for her, for Katherine.

She finds strength in that and starts speaking.

"This night never happened. You will never return to Mystic Falls. You know nothing about the Salvatores. Bella left you, Stefan and Damon did not survive. You know nothing about Elena Gilbert. In the morning, you will leave for Bulgaria. You will go home, the way you have always wanted to."

She falters in her speech as Katherine nods dumbly, her will taken from her. This is Katherine, her strong Katherine, and here she is, submitting to another's will. What kind of monster does this to her brother and her best friend in one night?

The kind who loves them too much.

"You will go home, and you will mourn your family, the way you never did all those years ago. And that is where you will stay, Katherine. You will let go of your hatred and anger and grief. You will start over. And you will be happy." A tear escapes the confines of her eyelids as she shuts her eyes to prevent more from following.

"I will be happy." Katherine agrees. Bella open her eyes, her vision of Katherine distorted by tears. She blinks them away; she needs one last picture of Katherine.

"Go home, Katherine." She sighs heavily, releasing her friend.

Katherine gets to her feet with glazed over eyes, as if she's in a trance. She turns around without even a look at Bella and murmurs a single word to herself: _home_.

And then she's gone, leaving behind nothing but a silent cry of the wind and fluttering leaves. Bella sinks to the ground and remains curled up for a long time, staring blankly at the night sky while her thoughts consume her.

Her actions tonight are unforgivable. It doesn't matter that she's the only one aware of them now – she's crossed a line, one that she had promised herself she never would. She's been around for a long time and she's done many horrible things, but taking away the will of her loved ones has always struck her as a special kind of despicable. It was something _he_ would do and so she had promised herself she never would. He had told her once that she would become just like him one day, and so she had fought against it.

Tonight… she's no better than him, not anymore. And what for? Katherine takes vervain, she is certain of it. Her compulsion won't hold – Katherine will be back for more, and soon. And she will have no choice but to take her on then. She will have to fight Katherine for her brothers, for her family. For Stefan, the brother Katherine had forcefully kept. For Damon, the brother Katherine had used and manipulated. For Elena, the descendant Katherine will kill without even a moment's hesitation.

When Katherine comes, she will be the only one strong enough to take a stand against her. But it will be so, so hard, especially with what she knows now.

She whispers the truth to the moon, letting the wind carry her words the way it had carried away any remaining traces of Katherine.

"Love you, Kathy."

* * *

**This one's a short chapter. One of the shortest so far, I think. It's really just to introduce some minor storylines that will become more important later on, and to move the story along a bit. As usual, feedback is much appreciated.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	12. Eleven

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Eleven : Messenger**

* * *

Bella tosses and turns all night, her mind plagued by constant replays of the night's events. After kicking off the covers with an exasperated groan for what feels like the hundredth time that night, she swings her legs over the bed and places them on the cold ground, searching for her phone. Her sharpened sense of sight locates the tiny device immediately, and she finds that it's five in the morning.

She rakes her fingers through her hair, sighing. She's exhausted but there's no way she's going back to sleep. Crossing the room to her window that overlooks the backyard, she peers out to check if there's any cleaning to be done after last night. Dewy blades of grass cover the expanse of the grounds with nothing else in sight. She tugs on a sweatshirt and slips out of her room anyway. She'll find something to do. Anything's better than lying in bed dreading her future.

She stops by the kitchen for a glass of water and idly checks the contents of the fridge. She's not hungry but she finds herself pulling out cartons of eggs, a loaf of bread and fruits anyway.

And that's how Damon finds his sister in the kitchen a few hours later, singing over the stove as she flips pancakes and French toast.

"Gorgeous _and _she cooks. What more can a guy ask for?"

Bella stops singing and turns around with a bright smile. "Good morning!" She injects some enthusiasm into her voice. Breakfast has helped keep her mind occupied for the past two hours, but she's not entirely at ease just yet, not that she's going to let her brother see that.

"What's with the breakfast feast?" He eyes the heaps of food she's been slaving over curiously, helping himself to the pitcher of fresh orange juice Bella's just set out for him. She turns back to the stove, keeping her back to him.

"Couldn't sleep," She shrugs and leaves it at that. Damon frowns; Bella used to doze off the second her head hit the pillow. But that was a long time ago, before his little sister became a vampire with her fair share of bloody memories. He wonders again just what it is that haunts his sister, just what it is that she can't tell him. But he has to trust her – he promised, and she's never given him any reason not to.

So he smiles and reaches for the stacks of pancakes and French toast and helps her serve them on the kitchen island. He's just setting down another pitcher of juice – Bella's obviously been hard at work – when Stefan and Elena walk in.

"Good morning." Stefan says with a hint of surprise as he takes in the sight of plates and plates of food. The lively kitchen is a complete contrast from the usual atmosphere in the Salvatore kitchen, which is usually left unused and empty.

"Morning!" Bella sings, finishing up with the last batch of eggs as Elena sits down, still taken aback by the feast they've been presented with. "I got up early." Bella shrugs upon catching sight of Elena's curious stare. Stefan nods with a smile.

"This looks great, Bella." He compliments as everyone takes their places. Bella beams and thanks her brother before encouraging everyone to dig in. They eat in comfortable silence for the first few minutes before Bella breaks the silence.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" She asks in between bites of toast.

Elena sighs. "Stefan and I have been summoned to lunch with Jenna and Alaric, though I'm not going to be able to keep a single bite of food down after this." She gestures to her full plate.

"Double date?" Bella guesses. Stefan shakes his head while Elena tells her that Jeremy will be there too. She nods before turning to Damon.

"And you, brother? What exciting adventure will you go on today?"

"Hmm," He muses. "I _have _been running low on blood bags. Are you up for a quick B&E, little one?" He challenges with a patronizing smirk.

Bella scowls. "I'm so in."

Stefan eyes his siblings with wary eyes. "Watch your backs," He warns.

Damon rolls his eyes. "Or the scary doctor will get us? _Relax_, brother. It's a routine errand. We're running low after your little blood binge."

Stefan grows uncomfortable as Bella struggles to hide her shock. Stefan had a relapse? Why hasn't she heard of this? They lapse into awkward silence.

"Oh!" Bella jumps off her stool. "I forgot." Three pairs of curious eyes watch her as she heads for the oven. "I made muffins!" She beams.

Damon stares at her incredulously.

"Did you even sleep _at all_?"

She turns her back to him and focuses on serving the muffins. They've cooled; clearly, they'd slipped her mind. Finally, she turns around, a bright smile in place.

"Of course I did."

She can't even go a morning without lying to her brother.

* * *

Stefan and Elena leave shortly after breakfast, though not before insisting on cleaning up. Bella had enlisted Damon to help and sent them off with a smile, telling them to enjoy their double date with a teasing twinkle in her eye. Elena had feebly protested the idea of her on a double date with her aunt and History teacher before disappearing into Stefan's car, which soon pulled out of the driveway.

"Alright, ma'am," Damon addresses her with a mock salute. "Put me to work."

His sister laughs and leads the way to the kitchen, where she starts stacking up dishes. "I clean, you wash." She instructs and they soon get to work. Sunlight filters in through the windows, bathing the kitchen in a warm glow.

"Remember when we weren't even allowed in the kitchen?" Bella recalls fondly. "Father said that we were to leave everything to the help." She frowns. "But of course we snuck in late at night."

"Yeah, and he never even caught us." Damon smirks triumphantly. Bella laughs in amusement briefly before growing quiet. When she brings him the last stack of dishes, Damon turns around to face his sister.

"Do you miss it? Our past?" He searches her eyes, his own unusually open, unguarded and vulnerable.

She contemplates his question for a moment. "Sometimes." She decides. "We were young, and naïve, and Father controlled us so horribly, but we were happy. We heard of bad things but did not know of them and Father tried his best to keep us from them. In a way, it was better, don't you think?"

Damon observes her for a moment, noting the sad smile she wears and how her eyes are just a little brighter and shinier – wet with unshed tears.

"Yeah." He sighs, thinking of all the horrible things he's seen and done in this life, after leaving behind the sheltered one he had shared with his family. He'd known of bad things back then – he had been in the War and he'd seen more horrible things that his sister had under Giuseppe's watchful eye. But things weren't quite hopeless, and he had his family to return to.

Everything changed the day he was turned. He was good, at first. Stefan had forced this upon him but he did not intend to let Stefan force him into anything else. He was a good vampire and he had tried to help his brother be the same. But slowly, he'd lost hope. And when there was nothing more to hold on to, he'd let go. He'd become a monster in every sense of the word.

"It was better."

Bella nods, fighting tears which she quickly blinks away. They get back to work, though the silence isn't as comfortable as it had been earlier. Bella's words had knocked something loose in both of their minds, and even as they go about doing utterly human things, all they can think about is their lost humanity.

* * *

Later that day, she comes back from a run in the woods just as Damon pulls up, home from wherever it is he'd gone to.

"Perfect timing," He tells her, holding out a hand to help her up the stairs that lead to their front door. "Happy hour is just about to start."

She rolls her eyes as if to say _what else? _and trails after her brother. She's probably spent more time drinking with him in front of the fireplace than with anyone else doing anything else since her return. It makes sense, though. Stefan's always gone with Elena, and her new friends are really just close acquaintances. Damon is the only one she trusts, the only one she can be herself around, the only one she can talk to. Not that she's always her true self and completely honest, but it's easier to be around her brother than curious strangers.

Especially now that she's in a better mood. She's always loved the outdoors, the woods, the smell of nature after a storm. Her run had helped with some of the lingering guilt from last night, and the crankiness caused by her sleepless night.

Damon sits down next to her, holding two glasses and a bottle of whiskey that she quickly snatches out of his hand. "You should probably drink most of it." Damon tells her as she starts pouring. It's unlike him to be so generous and so she shoots him a curious look.

"I might be losing my knack for this." Her brother admits reluctantly. "Last night's all blurry and stuff."

Bella's eyes quickly drop to her glass. _Of course_ her brother would bring this up the second she puts it behind her. "What do you mean?" She needs to know what he remembers.

"I remember saying goodnight to you, and the next thing I know I'm herding a hundred kids out of the front door. Everything in between is just… blurred." He shrugs, as if it's no cause for concern.

She chokes down her guilt and forces her lips to form a smirk. "Getting old, Dae?" She teases, to which her brother merely rolls his eyes.

That's the end of that, it seems. They fall into a peaceful silence, though Damon does hit the alcohol a bit slower. She wonders if her brother is on vervain too, and how long the compulsion will hold, and what she's supposed to tell him when he remembers.

_If, _she correct herself. No sense in dreading the worse just yet.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?" She turns to her brother, who looks uncharacteristically serious, and earnest. He studies her for a moment, as if sizing her up.

"You know that you can always tell me if anything's wrong, right? I'm your brother, I'm here for you." She keeps her surprise bottled up inside while she plasters on a grateful smile. Now she feels _horrible_. Here he is, her brother, the one who shuts out the world, looking at her with worried eyes and an offer to help.

And where had this come from? Is her brother seeing right through her fake smiles and half-hearted teasing? She's spent the last hundred years or so polishing her skills, and she prides herself on being quite good at deception. Maybe it's true: family knows you best. Or maybe she's losing her touch, what with everything that's going on. It's not just Katherine's return or Damon's compulsion, though those two things did keep her up for most of the night.

No, what had kept her up all night and haunts her in her waking moments is something – _someone _– else entirely. Katherine had brought up a person she hasn't let herself think of in a very, very long time. Thoughts of him were off-limits; memories had been exiled to the deepest, darkest parts of her mind. She had been doing so well at just blocking him out, blocking the pain he had caused her, the longing she still feels for him sometimes.

"Bella?"

Her brother's voice snaps her out of her thoughts and she is faced with a pair of worried eyes closely studying her.

"Bells, are you okay?" Damon reaches out and cups her cheek, searching her eyes. She knows what Damon's seeing: tired, dark eyes complete with eye bags, not a hint of a smile on her face, hair that's lost its shine. Her body has always been very in tune with her inner state. She places one hand over his, giving him a small smile before pulling his hand away.

"I'm fine, Damon." She assures him. "And thank you. If there's anything to talk about, I'll come to you, just like I always did, brother."

Damon isn't convinced. "You're fine?" He checks again. She nods.

"Just didn't sleep much."

Her brother sets his drink down and reaches for hers, doing the same as she watches with curious eyes. Then he stretches out on one end of the sofa and holds his hands out.

"C'mon, let's get you some rest." She stares at him incredulously. "What?" He questions her hesitance, pulling her over. "Just like old times, Bella. Remember?"

She gives in and lets her brother pull her closer. "Stefan and I were so scared of thunderstorms." She smiles reminiscently. "And no one else cared, so when it stormed, we'd both sneak out of our rooms and into yours."

"Stefan outgrew it after a while." He reminds her, the soothing rumble of his voice lulling her to sleep as she rests against his chest. "And you'd still creep into my room, all grown up and terrified."

"You never turned me away though." She smiles fondly. It's true – her brother would sigh and groan and roll his eyes, but he'd pull back the covers and let her get in anyway, because he was her older brother and she was his baby sister and they had no one else, except for Stefan who insisted that big boys could handle thunderstorms.

She tries to stifle a yawn as her sleepless night finally catches up to her and Damon chuckles. "Sleep, Bells." He murmurs, running his fingers through her hair. "I'll be here to look out for you."

She closes her eyes and lets her brother's even breathing soothe her. A thought occurs to her just as she's about to drift off and she finds herself mumbling a question to Damon, one foot firmly planted in oblivion already.

"Damon?"

"Hmm?" Her brother hums in reply, one hand still combing through her hair. She doesn't pause to consider her question or what it might knock loose, just asks her brother the same thing she's wondered for years.

"Was there ever anyone else? After Katherine?"

He misses an exhale in his consistent pattern and his movements still for a moment. She fights against sleep, just for a few more seconds. She has to know what it's like for her brother.

Finally, he sighs and pats her arm gently. "No." He answers truthfully. "No, there wasn't."

A frown tugs at her lips but she's too far gone to express her discontent.

"Me too," She murmurs, her brows furrowed.

Damon watches his sister drift off, her features smoothing out in a way they can't when she's conscious and holding up the weight of the world.

He wonders if she's even talking about Katherine.

* * *

"Shh," Elena holds a finger up to her lips as Stefan comes stumbling in after her. He gives her a questioning look before she points to the two figures on the sofa and Stefan nods as he makes out his siblings' slumbering forms.

"Cat nap?" He guesses. Elena shrugs, a smile on her lips. She finds it adorable, the way Bella's brought out Damon's humanity. He's very protective of his sister, seemingly more than he is of Stefan, and she's pretty sure he's never held Stefan while they napped the way he's got one arm around Bella, holding her in place to keep her from falling to the ground.

Elena finds that his protective hold is perfectly justified, since Bella rolls down the second his grip on her slackens.

"Oh!" Bella jumps to her feet, eyes wide and frantic. Elena and Stefan burst into laughter at the sight of the usually composed vampire slowly shaking off the last bits of sleep, unintentionally waking Damon up.

"What?" Damon slurs, half-asleep. He's much calmer than his sister, taking in his surroundings before sitting up and stretching. "Huh, must've fallen asleep." He mumbles.

"You think?" Bella quips, pointing out the darkened windows. "It's nightfall, Damon!" She's berating herself for nodding off that way and wasting a whole day, even if she hadn't had anything planned in the first place. It's still going to mess up her sleep schedule. Besides, she'd been counting on Damon to wake her up after an hour or two. She certainly wasn't expecting him to fall asleep right next to her and let both of them nap the day away.

"Party time." Damon shrugs, getting to his feet. He turns around to face his brother and Elena for the first time that evening. "Welcome back, lovebirds. How'd the double date go?"

"Not so good." Elena sighs, walking forward and sitting down on an armchair. Stefan joins the little group, flicking on lights as he goes.

"John crashed the party." He explains, placing a comforting hand on Elena's back as his siblings react to the news.

"That piece of shit." Damon growls.

"I told you we should've just snapped his neck." Bella frowns, having been filled in on John Gilbert's story and the role he'd played in almost killing her brothers. Stefan shoots her an exasperated look that tells her he actually feels the same way, but he _is _Elena's father so enough with the death threats. She shrugs and walks out of the room, heading for the kitchen. She could use a glass of water, and some food. Besides, this is Elena's story, and she'll let her brothers handle it. It's not that she doesn't care enough to get involved, just that… well, she'd probably end up snapping his neck. Besides, she figures Elena's already got two Salvatores sticking their noses into her business and that's more than enough.

Damon joins her shortly after, probably giving Stefan and Elena some space.

"They're not so fond of murder, huh?" She jokes lightly, handing Damon a glass of water. He nods his thanks and downs the chilled contents before speaking up.

"Nah, they're boring that way." She laughs and raids the fridge while Damon watches his little sister. She can almost feel his questioning gaze so she turns around and plants her hands on her hips.

"Out with it." She orders impatiently, though her eyes are still smiling. They dim when Damon starts looking around uncomfortably, stalling for time.

"Damon?" She questions, wondering just what it is he's about to ask her. Could it be about Katherine? And last night? Oh, damn it. Is that mistake going to haunt her every waking moment now? Like an amateur criminal, she will live every second fearing that she is about to be called out. It's a nauseating thought – it's been less than 24 hours and she's already sick of all this.

"You said something, before you dozed off." Damon finally meets her eyes.

Oh.

She freezes, quite certain she's sporting the deer-in-headlights look. It's not a very flattering one on her. This is why it's dangerous to be home, to be around her family, to be with Damon. She's letting her guard down around her brothers and apparently, in the moments before slipping off into dreamland, she'd thrown caution to the wind and asked Damon… if there was anyone else after Katherine.

For God's sake, why did she ask him that? It was a stupid question, and it could've made him think about Katherine, and it's earned her a hundred questions in return, judging by her brother's curious eyes.

"I…" She falters, her mind working a hundred miles an hour to find an answer. She's painfully aware of Damon's insistent look, the one that demands answers.

"You weren't talking about Katherine, were you?"

Her eyes widen. How did he even figure that out? It would seem that her brother's more perceptive than she remembers. Well, Damon's always been perceptive, just not when it comes to her. Her brother knows her better than anyone else – or he had, once upon a time – but she's always been able to hide things from him.

She feels horrible about it this time. Why is it that she always has to hide things from her brothers? Why can't she just tell them everything, every last horrible detail?

Because she's protecting them.

But what good will this do? Certainly it's better for her brothers to be in the know, to be two steps ahead along with her. She can't keep this from them forever and it isn't right of her to do so. She shouldn't have kept this from them in the first place.

She needs to tell them. She needs to give Damon a truthful answer.

So she sighs and answers the question.

"No, it wasn't Katherine."

Her brother leans forward, wanting more than just that. "Then who wa-"

The doorbell rings.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Damon tilts his head quizzically but Bella isn't listening, not really. Something's off and the little hairs on the back of her neck are standing up on high alert. It could be anyone – Caroline, Bonnie, even that dick John – but somehow she knows it isn't. She can feel it. Their visitor is one of _them_.

She hears footsteps from the sitting room as Stefan walks out. "I'll get it." He calls, bringing her back to the present situation. She straightens up and stalks out of the kitchen.

"I've got it!" She calls to her brother with a strained smile, and he pauses a few feet away from here. Damon has followed her out of the kitchen and now both of her brothers are looking at her weirdly. Damon joins Stefan and they position Elena behind them, a cautious move.

She turns around and heads for the door, the little group following behind her. The bell does not ring again, confirming her suspicions. Her visitor has endless patience; after all, she does know exactly how long it will take for someone to get the door. She knows why and she knows who. She knows everything.

Bella stops just short of the front door and resolves to do this the Band-Aid way. She just needs to rip it off – open the door and that's that.

So she flings it open.

And there she is in all of her spiked-hair, golden-eyed, pixie-framed glory.

"Alice."

Dread pools in her stomach; the Cold One was under strict orders. She wouldn't have risked coming here for anything but the one thing Bella had told her to.

It's happened. The worst has happened and her friend can't even bear to tell her. Her lips quiver, not with speed but with fear, an emotion usually foreign to her. Her fingers are intertwined, her hands pressed together anxiously. Her eyes are wide and hopeless.

Even knowing what she's come to say, tears spring to Bella's eyes as Alice Cullen delivers her news.

"The Volturi has fallen."

* * *

**We're getting down to business now, people! In case you were wondering, the Cullens will play a much smaller role here than they did in the original. They were never meant to factor in much, or even be featured often, but I'd somehow lost sight of the original idea while writing. So here's how it was meant to be all along.**

**Other than that last bit, there wasn't much going on here. I just wanted to write some normalcy between the Salvatores, mostly between Damon and Bella. We know that Damon cares for Stefan and will pretty much do anything for him, but he can't really show that. So I imagine that he would feel the same way about Bella, his other sibling, but he's able to express it more clearly because she's his baby sister.**

**We're about half done here. What do you guys think so far? Don't forget to let me know your thoughts on Katherine, the big, bad hybrid and Bella's past.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	13. Twelve

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Twelve : War**

* * *

Bella Salvatore has been dreading these words for nearly a century now but that doesn't help soften the blow. All the time in the world couldn't make this any easier to hear or face.

She fights back tears and chokes down a sob, but she can't help it when her knees go weak and she loses her balance. Her brothers shoot forward, there to hold her up and support her the way they always have. After a cursory examination of his sister, Damon hands her over to Stefan and steps forward to face their visitor.

"Who are you?" He demands. A first name – _Alice_, Bella had called her – isn't enough. He wants to know who she is, what she is, why she's here and what she's just told Bella. What could possibly be horrible enough to rattle Bella in such a way? Clearly, it's bad news. They just can't catch a break around here.

The vampire – she's a Cold One, he can see it – keeps her eyes on Bella, wide and scared. She cries his sister's name and tries to cross the threshold but Damon stands in the way.

"Not so fast, pixie." He growls. The petite vampire rolls her eyes impatiently and huffs.

"I'm Alice Cullen, your sister's best friend. Now get out of my way." She forces her way in, pushing his arm away. He watches as she crosses into their home without so much as an invitation before realizing that apparently their kind isn't hindered by such matters.

The newcomer – a Cullen – heads straight for his sister, placing a hesitant hand on Bella's arm.

"Oh, Bella." She sighs as Damon closes the door and joins the rest of them. His sister inhales deeply, composing herself, before pulling away from Stefan, slowly regaining her balance. She smiles weakly at her visitor despite the fact that she's pale and shaking like a leaf.

"Alice." She says simply before holding out her hands. Damon watches incredulously as the Cold One steps into his sister's embrace, having identified the vampire. Alice Cullen, as in the Cullens. Bella's… study subjects, for lack of a better term.

He'd assumed that part of her life was over, a closed chapter. Now a Cullen is here, in their house, with news bad enough to reduce his sister into a scared little girl. He fights the urge to grab this Alice girl and interrogate her, or even Bella.

_The Volturi has fallen_, she'd said. Damon knows of the Italian coven, even if he shouldn't. He's never been one to mind the rules and stay out of everyone else's business. They rule over the Cold Ones, a royal family of sorts. Very old and very powerful, their name has always been enough to strike fear into the hearts of any Cold One he'd encountered.

And now they've fallen, as Alice Cullen claims.

It's impossible. It's out of the question. It's preposterous, the mere idea of such power being challenged and beaten. Yet it's happened, and somehow this is of interest to his sister.

His sister, who has pulled away from Alice's hold and is anxiously questioning her messenger.

"When, Alice?" She demands, cutting straight to the chase. Alice Cullen grows somber.

"Three days ago." She whispers, as if still in disbelief. He would be, too. As far as Damon can recall, this Volturi coven had been the only thing keeping her kind in order. Without fearful rulers, these vampires are free to descend into utter chaos. Apparently they're all power-hungry and blood-thirsty and they fight each other like children. He's mocked a few of them over it.

His sister's jaw tenses as something flashes in her eyes. It sends a chill down his spine for reasons he isn't quite sure of. "Survivors?"

Alice drops her eyes to the floor and shakes her head.

A muffled cry escapes Bella's lips as she claps a hand over her mouth. Stefan steps forward as if to hold her up but Bella presses a restraining hand on his chest with a single shake of her head.

Bella takes a deep breath, as if to steel herself, and nods curtly. "Alice." She addresses her friend. "Come. We have much to talk about." The petite vampire nods and trails after Bella who begins to lead them inside.

"Hold on." Damon speaks up, stepping in front of his sister. "Just where do you think you're going?" He demands. He's taken aback when Bella meets his eyes, her own mirroring a world of pain.

"The sitting room." She states evenly. "There's much to discuss, and I suggest you be present." Damon nods, caught off guard. He'd expected Bella to keep her brothers out of this, not ask for their presence. The five of them make their way to where most of their disaster briefs seem to take place and everyone quickly sits down, save for Bella who paces back and forth in front of the fireplace.

Finally, her eyes snap to Alice's. "Start from the beginning."

Alice straightens her shoulders and recites her tale.

"Four days ago, Italian vampire reported a strange sight – vampires, a whole group of them, travelling together along the Italian countryside. Three days ago, a procession of black cars entered Volterra. They did not make any stops, heading straight for the Volturi castle. Nomads who happened to be passing by had raced ahead to warn the coven, but by the time they arrived, it was too late. The royal guard had been ambushed and were fighting for their lives."

"The nomads escaped, but when they looked back at Volterra, the skies were darkened by smoke and the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air."

Elena shudders in Stefan's arms. Damon tries to make sense of Alice's story. Who had attacked? Why? Who could have been strong enough to take on the Volturi?

"Klaus." Bella snarls, coming to an abrupt halt. Four pairs of eyes follow her as she balls up her fists. The dying fire roars to life, shooting up to nearly Bella's height.

Bella stalks out of the room and the rest quickly follow after her. Alice gasps, drawing their attention.

"Get her!" She commands Stefan and Damon with wide, horrified eyes. The brothers don't question her. They run after their sister just as the front door flies open, seemingly of its own accord. They don't falter at the sight, focused on their target.

Damon runs ahead and blocks the door while Stefan stands behind Bella.

"Damon." His sister growls warningly, her face contorted by rage and grief in a way he's never seen before. Her eyes, bright green orbs that he has known his whole life, are now unfamiliar pools of emeralds, flashing dangerously.

He stands his ground.

Bella does not stop. She keeps walking even as Stefan chases after her and places a restraining hand on her shoulder. She pushes it off without hesitation, the sheer amount of force in her action causing Stefan to lose his balance and stumble backwards.

Damon's eyes widen. Bella would never do that to her brothers, no matter what. He begins to doubt his decision to remain in her way, but he can't let her go. Whatever it is she's about to do, wherever it is she's about to go – it can't be good, or safe. For all he knows, she's going to chase down the man she deems responsible for this – _Klaus_, she had snarled. He knows the name, every vampire does. Niklaus, the first of all vampires. The strongest, oldest, most sadistic one too. Or so the rumors go.

He doesn't have time to doubt his sister's sanity. It doesn't matter if Klaus, a legendary figure, exists or even if he's responsible for this. He absolutely cannot let Bella out of his sight, not in this state of hers.

"Damon, move." She growls again, coming so close that he can see the way she's breathing heavily, the way the air around her seems to shimmer, the way her hair is curling at the ends.

"No." He states confidently. She won't hurt him, she won't. This is Bella, his baby sister. She would never-

One hand strikes out and pushes him backwards, nearly causing him to stumble down the stairs. By the time he's regained his balance, Bella is nowhere to be found.

"Where'd she go?" He demands with wild eyes, taking in the entire Salvatore property.

Stefan comes to stand next to him. "I don't know!"

"She's running. I see ruins, a basement of some sort… waterfalls?"

Stefan turns to Alice with an incredulous look in his eyes. She _sees_ ruins? What does she mean?

Damon doesn't waste a single second. By the time Stefan catches up to him, they're halfway to the Falls.

"Bella!" They call out frantically, over and over. Stefan spots her at the very top of Mystic Falls.

"There!" He points out and both of them race up to their sister. They pause just a few feet behind her, unsure of what exactly their sister is up to.

She stands at the edge of the Falls, hands outstretched as she tilts her head up. It doesn't make sense. Their sister isn't suicidal, and the fall wouldn't kill her anyway. But what other explanation could there possibly be?

Bolts of lightning flash through the dark sky in quick succession as the wind picks up and whips past them. Not a single drop of rain falls.

"What the _fuck_?" Damon mutters.

Stefan hesitates for a moment before approaching his sister.

"Bella," He stands just a few steps behind her. Her body starts shaking, trembling… convulsing.

"Is she having a _seizure_?" Stefan turns around to his brother. Damon stands a short distance behind him, horror painted across his face.

"I don't know!" He shouts to be heard across the winds before recklessly running to their sister, grabbing her by the wrist.

"Bella!" He shouts forcefully, pulling at her hand.

His sister's green eyes snap open, a dark, vivid shade he's never seen before, one that seems to glow in the darkness. He gasps involuntary, almost taking a step back. But the crumbling ground under his feet reminds him that there is no step backwards to take.

He focuses on his sister, who remains unmoving. Her eyes are unseeing, eerily blank, as if she's not really there anymore. Stefan comes to stand next to his siblings, taking Bella's other hand so that they're both holding her down.

She doesn't even fight back, just turns her eyes up to the heavens again. They shut as the sky cracks – thunder rumbles ominously as the wind howls.

"Bella, please." Damon reaches his other hand up to cup her cheek and pull her eyes back to his. "Come back to us, Bells." He pleads. "We're here for you, Bella. Your brothers are here for you."

"We're going to help you, Bella. Everything is going to be okay." Stefan attempts to soothe her.

Bella doesn't try to avert her gaze, but it's empty. She's not in those green eyes and her brothers can see it. Damon pulls her into an embrace, keeping her rigid form restrained. They stand there, three siblings, for the longest minutes in their lives.

And then Bella goes weak in her brother's arms and starts crying. "He's back." She cries into Damon's shirt. "He's back."

Damon and Stefan share a look – _back_? Who's back? But they don't question her. Bella's knees fail her and Damon lowers them to the ground, with Stefan coming to rest on one knee too.

"It's okay, Bella. Everything's going to be okay."

It doesn't escape either brother that the wind had died down and the thunder had stopped the minute Bella had gone slack in Damon's arms.

Bella's tears are washed away by the pouring rain.

* * *

Bella walks in between her brothers, two pairs of watchful eyes observing her every step. Her eyes are fixed straight ahead as she walks numbly, placing one foot in front of the other in measured succession.

Alice and Elena greet them at the front door with towels and blankets. Stefan takes them with a grateful smile and hands Damon a towel before taking one to pat away the remaining drops of rain on Bella's skin. Alice mentions something about a change of clothes but Bella remains unresponsive. Elena holds out blankets and Damon drapes two around his sister's shoulders. She instinctively brings her hands up to pull the blankets closer, her fingers gripping the edges of the faded material.

The group proceeds to the sitting room where her brothers settle Bella into an armchair by the fireplace. Elena disappears for a short while before returning with a warm cup of tea which she presses into Bella's hands.

Bella looks up and meets Elena's eyes, giving the brunette a glimpse of her dull, pained orbs.

"Thank you." She murmurs gratefully, breaking her silence. Elena nods with a smile and places a comforting hand on the girl's arm for a moment before stepping back. Stefan and Damon step forward, the former kneeling down by Bella's side.

"Bella," He hesitantly reaches for her hand before securely gripping it with his own. "Are you okay?" His sister looks at him blankly before her lips curve in a sad smile.

"I don't think any of us are going to be okay." She whispers, as if she can't bear for the horrible truth to be spoken out loud. Stefan searches her eyes for something, anything, but she's wearing a carefully constructed mask of mild grief. Any lingering anger or even hysteria from earlier is gone; Bella sits quietly in her chair by the fireplace, gripping her cup of tea while her brothers exchanged worried looks.

Stefan backs away and lets Damon try his luck.

"Bells." Damon sits down next to her, prompting her to turn away from the fireplace and look at her brother. "You said…" He hesitates, afraid that this will set her off again. But they need to know this. "You said _he's back_." Bella flinches before he can even get to his question.

"Who, Bella?"

She stares at him with wide, startled-looking eyes before turning back to face the fireplace. Alice sighs and tells them that she'll fill them in on the basics first while they give Bella some time. Her brothers protest at first but Elena speaks her piece, saying that this could be a good idea, and so everyone sits down and listens to Alice's little horror story while Bella stares blankly at the dancing flames.

The Volturi had been like family to her.

Now every last one of them is gone. Aro, their eccentric leader who'd instilled a healthy sense of scientific curiosity into her young mind. Caius, who'd judged her based on who she really was, not the heroine of rumors and stories. Marcus… well, he'd always been quiet and a tad suicidal. But he was nice enough. And Jane.

Oh, little Jane.

She's lost one of her closest friends… again. And the worst part is that she'd known all along that this would happen someday. After all, he'd spoken of it constantly in the months they had spent together. _Power_, he would tempt her. _Complete power_.

That has always been his goal, and now he's so very close to achieving it.

Why now, though? Why strike out of the blue, so suddenly, years after the last floating wisps of rumors?

Maybe that's exactly why. No one had been expecting it, of course. Even she had let her guard down after years of fruitless waiting. And now…

He's back.

There's no denying it. He is back and he is coming for her. There's no way he wouldn't have heard of her connection to the Volturi. Besides, she stands in his way to total invincibility and power, and he will not overlook that. She poses a threat to him – always has, always will. Unless he kills her.

So he is coming for her, after nearly a hundred years.

And she will have to fight him, because he's not going to just rip her heart out and get it over with. No, he will hunt her, and everyone she's ever loved, and he will kill them all before he kills her. _Over my dead body_, she thinks, but then she realizes he probably won't have a problem with that. She does, though. And she's going to do something about it. This time, she won't run away. She'll stand her ground, she'll wait him out and she'll fight him.

She comes to a decision just as Alice is wrapping up with her story and catches her brothers' reactions.

"So the Originals killed your leaders because they want to rule over _all _vampires." Stefan concludes, a troubled frown tugging on his lips.

"We're not sure." Alice stresses, in a way that indicates she's repeated this several times.

"Yeah, maybe they just want to slaughter us all and start a new race of vampires." Damon proves that he's been paying attention. Alice looks as if she wants to protest his choice of words but what's the point? It's basically the truth.

"So what does this mean?" Elena asks, her eyes troubled and concerned.

Bella turns away from the fireplace and speaks up for the first time since the start of Alice's story, drawing four pairs of eyes to herself.

"War." She states simply and firmly, setting down her tea.

"This means war."

* * *

**Coming up next: more backstory! You didn't think I'd just pull a classic zone-out-during-story-catch-short-recap stunt, did you? Nope, that was just to avoid repetition because you're getting the entire Volturi vs. Originals story next chapter.**

**So… review, maybe?**

**_E Salvatore,_**

**_December 2012._**


	14. Thirteen

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Thirteen : Invasion**

* * *

_It once occurred to someone that if they were to say, eradicate the entire ruling party of vampires, the supernatural world would have no choice but to fear them, and that fear would, in turn, allow them to ascend to the throne, so to speak. They would be the new rulers of all vampires._

_There were whispers, hushed rumors of power - growing power in the South, old power in the old countries, incredible power in the hidden mountains. Whispers of power and rumors of rebellion. The Volturi would not stand for it – their authority was not to be questioned. And so they dispatched of the threats and quelled the rumors. There were no more threats to their supreme power._

_Many would shudder at the mere mention of the Volturi for years to come. They still do. They were inferior to the vampire royalty and they were well aware of it. And of those few beings powerful enough to present a challenge, many were reluctant to risk such a bloodbath. For even if they could successfully take on the Volturi, there would still be sacrifice._

_Many years passed and the Volturi grew confident in its power, its security. Aro was their leader and he would not be overthrown. His word was law, his actions unquestionable. And so he started slipping up._

_Rumors spread like wildfire._

_Aro was power-hungry. Aro was sadistic. Aro would do anything to get those which he coveted and would stop at nothing to secure his position. There was unrest amongst the vampires and each searched for an answer, a solution to their troubles._

_There was only one answer, only one solution… only one family._

_There was only one family in the history of vampires who formed an army so formidable that even the Volturi were chilled by the name of their leader. They were right to fear him; after all, he was the father of all vampires. The original vampire._

_You see, the only army powerful enough to dethrone the Volturi… were the Originals._

* * *

"_Lisa, wait up!"_

_Charles called after his mate, chasing her over the plains of Italy's countryside. It was nightfall, and they were finally free to dash across the fields to cover ground. They would be at the gates of Volterra before sunrise._

"_Okay," Lisa hurtled to a stop, waiting for her maker to catch up to her. Even without his vampire sight, Charles was certain he would have found her in the darkness, using her hair as a beacon. There were flashes of turquoise and stripes of hot pink impulsively weaved into her dark curls, and the unnaturally full moon shone down on her, setting her alight. _

_Lisa huffed impatiently as her dark-haired companion finally caught up to her and together, they ran. "So," She spoke as the winds whipped past them, in a hushed tone that a human would have missed even in a room quiet enough to hear the drop of a pin. "What should we call Aro? My liege?" She suggested flippantly, expressing her distaste for authority._

"_What?" Charles blurted incredulously._

"_Dude," The girl rolled her eyes. "I don't know this kind of stuff. Royal rulers and all that crap. American, remember? We've got a president and he's a cool guy, that's all I know."_

_Charles smiled affectionately at his mate. "You can call him Aro." He corrected her. "Honestly, Lisa. He isn't all that bad – none of them are." She snorted, skeptical. After all, everyone had heard the rumors of Aro on witch-hunts, prosecuting innocent covens to get their gifted ones, silencing those who left his service out of the fear that they might speak, using a gifted servant to keep his guard loyal…_

_Her companion nodded as if he had followed her thoughts. "They have their faults." He agreed. "But trust me when I say that these vampires will be far worse. They are tyrants, Lisa. Monsters."_

"_Duh. I mean, who the hell goes to war in _hearses_?" She thought of the procession they had spied on. A line of black cars – those for the dead – driven by vampires on their way to a bloodbath._

"_They say he has a twisted sense of humor." Charles said gravely._

"_Who?"_

_His eyes grew serious as his lips hardened into a grim line. Even then, Lisa thought she had caught a flash of fear in her fearless mate's eyes as he spoke the name all vampires feared._

"_Niklaus."_

* * *

_The full moon was unusually bright tonight and a few years ago, this would have concerned Aro. After all, blue moons were the best nights for an attack. But they were safe now. The others did not want a fight – perhaps they were even scared. _

_The thought of being powerful enough to scare the first of all vampires satisfied him greatly, and not even Jane, his most trusted vampire, bursting unannounced into the throne room could bother him. He rose to his feet and greeted the young one with a smile._

"_Ah, Jane." He sighed happily. "What news have you brought us?"_

_The little one was unsettled and seemed on edge. Her eyes were wide and she had been running - it was evident in her windblown hair._

"_Master!" She exclaimed in reply, approaching Aro with hurried steps without waiting to be granted permission. Her uncharacteristic behavior made sense as she uttered her next words._

"_They have arrived."_

_She held out a hand to Aro, who quickly grabbed her pale wrist and closed his eyes, searching through Jane's memories._

_And there, in her mind, he saw them._

_The procession of hearses entering the city – _his _city._

"_No!" He gasped, bringing his brothers to their feet._

"_What is it, Aro?" Caius demanded anxiously as Marcus stood, awaiting his brother's words patiently. He did not care for much that happened around the castle. All he wanted was to leave…_

_Aro's words brought with them a possibility of him finally getting his way._

"_He is here." Aro uttered solemnly and there was no need to question his brother any further. Everyone in the throne room – the guards had hurried in, having heard the commotion – was perfectly aware of the one person who could terrify their master just with news of his arrival._

_It was time to fight._

_As if on cue, a human scream pierced the air, breaking their tense silence. Gianna the human receptionist screamed once more, but it was abruptly cut off. The cloaked guards snapped into action as their leaders ascended their thrones once more; they were kings and kings did not fight their battles. They had loyal subjects willing to fight to the death for them._

_Aro feared even that would not be enough tonight._

_All eyes were trained on the grand doors as Jane and her twin brother, Alec, took their places two steps in front of their masters._

_Their sharp hearing picked up on footfalls just outside the chamber, slow and steady steps. Many thought that if their skin could prick, it surely would. _

_And then it started._

_The five vampires watched in confusion as heads were snapped and limbs ripped off. Vampires were fighting to the death, and viciously. The chamber doors remained close._

"_Heidi!" Jane screamed as her friend stalked towards her, red eyes narrowed and cold. Before she could approach them, Jane held a hand out towards the vampire._

"_Pain." She uttered simply, and the dark-haired woman fell to her knees, clutching her head as she screamed, drawing the attention of every vampire in the room._

_The doors burst open with such force that they splintered into pieces upon swinging into the walls and vampires stormed into the chamber, flaming torches in hand like an angry mob._

_The vampires moved as a unit, each perfectly in sync with their brethren. Aro stood and peered at their enemies. They moved as a unit, but those within their confines did not._

_Witches._

_Half a dozen witches, hands held up and eyes shut in concentration as they chanted, bringing each vampire down to his knees. Jane watched with cold eyes as they approached._

_Their victims fell to their knees, eyes squeezed shut in pain. Hers would fall to the ground, convulsing and shrieking in agony._

_Jane traded a look with her brother, who nodded and held his hands out. His power manifested tangibly, a thick haze seemingly appearing out of nothing, rapidly enveloping the room._

_They waited for the vampires to still, to lose their sight and all other senses, to cower helplessly._

_But it was futile._

_Their attackers had come prepared. Having their senses cut off did not send them into a panicked state of hysteria; they remained as they were, each holding a Volturi member down, two hands securely wrapped around pale necks._

_The witches faltered for all of five seconds before picking up their chanting, only it was not quite the same. No, this was a different chant, an urgent one that picked up in volume as more vampires stormed into the throne room._

_Alec held out his hands once more, sending a wave of smoke towards the army. _

_The siblings watched in horror as nothing happened. Well, not nothing. The vampires were not affected by Alec's power. They marched on, and as each came to stand by the side of a Volturi captive and an invader, they would work together with their fellow vampire as one ripped a head off and the other started a fire._

_They worked in organized pairs, in such order that even Aro was… morbidly impressed. Clearly a lot of thought had been put into the best possible way to incapacitate his army. The witches were certainly unexpected – he had tried to enlist their help many moons ago, and one had spat in his face that witches were not servants to their own creations._

_The dark-haired leader's eyes widened as the room was set on fire and severed limbs were tossed into the flames almost casually. He watched as Renata, a faithful servant, was dismembered without even being given a fighting chance._

_Everywhere he looked, he saw fire and destruction, and fallen comrades. Fallen members of his family. With a growl, the leader jumped forward and seized an invader by his neck, ripping his heart out before the vampire had even raised a hand to strike back._

_He turned around and took in the scene before him – the remaining members of his family had started fighting, even Marcus, who dispatched of the vampires with efficiency, speed and a look of boredom on his face._

_Caius held two pieces of splintered wood high in the air and struck out with both hands, plunging the makeshift stakes into the two vampires that had come rushing to him. Alec and Jane, the two witch twins who were physically the size of twelve-year-olds, worked together, watching each other's backs as Jane incapacitated their target and Alec plunged his hand into the vampire's chest, ripping his heart out. _

_He quickly turned around as he sensed a presence behind him and spotted a witch. He was almost offended – a human witch, taking on the king of vampires? He held out both hands, intending to snap his victim's neck._

_His hands quickly flew up to the sides of his head as pain, pain worse than any he had ever known, flooded his mind. He cried out and Jane looked up from her own battle to see her master on his knees. With a defiant cry, she abandoned her target and rushed to her master, but was ambushed and forced down to her knees, as was her brother. The siblings fought back but their attackers were much stronger._

_Not stronger than Caius and Marcus, who pounced on the vampires and quickly dispatched of them. Aro, still on his knees, spoke up with much effort._

"_Go!" He exclaimed through gritted teeth. "Leave now! Before it is too late!"_

"No_!" Caius roared in fury, charging forward. Marcus, breaking his passive streak, placed a restraining hand on his brother's shoulder which Caius quickly shook off._

_He turned to Jane and Alec._

"_My brothers and I have ruled for as long as one should. We have lived longer than anyone should and we have seen more than one would ever want to. But you are children, and we have kept the world from you. Go, save yourselves and _live_."_

_It was the most emotion anyone had seen Marcus show since the death of his mate, centuries ago. Jane stared wide-eyed at the ruler while Alec turned to Aro._

"_Go!" Aro ordered, fighting the pain. "Someday, you will avenge us."_

_Alec nodded resolutely and reached for his sister. "Jane," He called urgently. "Jane, we must go now."_

_Casting one last look at her leaders, her family, Jane nodded reluctantly as footfalls rang out across the antechamber._

_Alec grabbed her arm and pulled them over to a window, using his fist to smash through a window, creating an escape for them._

_A man appeared in the gaping entrance where the grand doors had once stood just as the siblings dropped out into the darkness._

_As they fell to the ground and raced away, leaving their home and everything they had ever known behind them, the last words they would ever hear from within the castle struck fear into their dead hearts. The civil greeting spoken in a deceptively even voice held subtle undertones of malice and satisfaction, and hinted at what was to come. It could only belong to one person._

"_Hello, Aro."_

_Niklaus._

* * *

**Just a quick flashback to three days ago. Oh, Klaus, what have you done? I don't think little Jane is going to be your biggest fan… next up, let's check in with Bella and the gang. Fingers crossed our youngest Salvatore has gotten over the shock of having to deal with Klaus.**

**As usual, reviews are **_**the best**_** and would be much appreciated. I'm not going to threaten to call it quits but it would be nice to get some feedback. This is the first time a story of mine has gotten so little love and it is quite surprising.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	15. Fourteen

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Fourteen : Past**

* * *

"War?" Damon echoes dubiously, staring at his sister with her determined eyes lit by the dancing flames of the fireplace. These… Originals have just taken out the most powerful organized vampire army. Now his sister is declaring war against them with their motley crew of three relatively young vampires.

Not that she's accounting for them. Knowing Bella, she'll probably try to send her brothers away, or take off on her own to protect them. There's no chance in hell that he's letting Bella take on these monsters on her own. It'll still be a losing fight but at least he'll have tried his best.

Of course, the best thing to do right now is probably to talk her out of it. Damon's never been one to back down from a fight but he likes his odds pretty even, not stacked up against him like a towering block of LEGOs.

Bella nods once, a no-nonsense, curt up-and-down motion of her head before turning back to watch the fire. Why won't she meet anyone's eyes?

"Bella," Damon tries again. "You can't just declare war. You need an opposing party, and there is no one who can stand against these guys. You know I'm all for a good fight but this wouldn't be war, Bella. It's _suicide_."

"Don't you think I know that?" Bella snaps, jumping to her feet at a dizzying speed. Everyone in the room watches as she comes back to life, pacing and talking animatedly.

"Don't you think I've considered that? The fact that I'm going against the most powerful army in the world? The fact that it's a losing battle? There's nothing I can do. What makes you think I have a _choice_?"

Damon stands to face his sister.

"What do you mean you don't have a choice?" He demands under the watchful gaze of Stefan, Elena and Alice.

Bella sighs wearily and raises one hand to her face, pressing two fingers to her temples as if warding off a headache. She closes her eyes and speaks in an even, strained tone.

"Alice, tell them what the Originals are doing."

Alice hesitates but complies with a heavy sigh. She stands up, drawing the attention of the brothers and Elena while Bella picks up her cup of tea and takes it to the bar, hunting for something stronger.

"The Originals left after burning the castle down to the ground. Sources have confirmed that they left Italy and headed home to London straightaway to make preparations for their next stop…"

The little vampire draws in an unnecessary breath and shifts her eyes to Damon, who has been watching her with barely concealed impatience and distaste. Now he reels back as if her words are a punch to his gut.

"Mystic Falls."

Elena's gasp is lost in the commotion as both Stefan and Damon turn to their little sister, demanding answers with furrowed brows and incredulous eyes. What the hell has Bella gotten herself into?

"What the hell is going on, Bella?" Damon growls. "Did you send out a war invitation?"

Stefan, the calmer of the two, clearly fights to keep his composure. "Bella," He approaches his sister with concerned eyes. "What is going on?"

Bella stalls, maintaining her focus on spiking her tea. She's told them too much already – she doesn't have a choice because of her shared past with her hunter. But how is she supposed to tell her brothers – her brothers who think the world of her, who see her as some innocent girl – about her mistakes and the way she had fallen into his trap, fallen for his lies? She can't bear to see them disappointed in her, not the way Giuseppe had been. She had never been courteous enough, proper enough, good enough. She spent her entire human life knowing that her father thought the worst of her. She can't spend the rest of her immortal life – _eternity_ – knowing that her brothers feel the same way.

So she lies.

Well, not really. She tells them a truth, just not _the _truth.

"I have no choice," She begins evenly, fighting the urge to just tell them the truth, to tell them everything and have them hold her and tell her that it's okay and it wasn't her fault and she couldn't have known better. "Because I refuse to stand by and watch them destroy our world."

Damon fixes a puzzled look on her with eyes that demand answers. Stefan crosses his arms over his chest.

"What do you mean they'll destroy our world?"

She laughs. It sounds bitter and hollow, and Elena and Alice both flinch when they hear it. The Bella they know is so bright, so full of light, good inside with no bitter dark side. They don't know her, not the real her.

_Katherine does_.

The thought just materializes in her mind. She doesn't know how or why, doesn't even want to know. She doesn't want to think about Katherine, about how she would easily understand how one would fall for that charming monster's lies – would completely understand and empathize, even. She doesn't want to think about the way Katherine would accept her dark side with supportive words and open arms. She doesn't want to think about Katherine, period.

Four pairs of eyes remain trained on her, waiting for an answer.

"What do you think he's going to do once he rules the world, brother?" She questions coldly, subconsciously avoiding his name. She can say it, she knows she can. She had no problem growling it or snarling it or cursing it earlier. But it's different now, now that she knows she'll see him soon, for the first time since that night.

No one even tries to answer her question. Well, it was mostly rhetorical.

"They won't stand for keeping vampires who had led a rebellion against them. He'll kill us, _all _of us. And then he'll repopulate the vampire world with creatures of his own creation, creatures loyal only to him."

Her audience is silent as she pauses to let this sink into their minds, to let them realize just how bad this will get. Damon is the first to recover.

"The end of the world as we know it." He quips, earning himself a glare.

"The end of _our _world, Damon." She hisses. "We will all die for crossing him."

"Hey," Damon protests. "I don't even _know_ the guy. Up until today, I didn't even know he's real."

Damon's words remind her of the fact that this is all her fault. Without her, he and Stefan would probably have led long, peaceful vampire lives without ever running into the Originals. But now… this is what she has brought upon her innocent brothers. This is the fate she has dealt them. She drops her gaze to the amber liquid of her tea and doesn't look up as she explains her words.

"Death by association. He will kill everyone I've ever loved."

Stefan stares at her uncomprehendingly as Damon tries to process this out loud.

"Everyone you've ever – _Bella_." He growls. "What have you done?"

He catches up just as understanding dawns in Stefan's eyes. "He's not coming here just for war-" He realizes.

Damon cuts in. "He's coming here for _you_."

A single nod has the brothers frozen in place as Alice stalks to her friend.

"That's why you wanted me to keep tabs on everything, to always know where they are. So that I could warn you!"

Bella nods again. "I'm sorry, Alice. You were the only one of your kind that I could trust." Alice pauses, not sure if she should take this as a compliment or be insulted at the fact that apparently Bella doesn't trust her family.

Finally, she nods curtly before returning to her seat. In the meantime, Elena has walked to Stefan's side, trying to comfort him.

She succeeds in convincing him to sit down and Bella turns her attention to Damon, walking up to her brother who eyes her cautiously, as if the danger she brings with her could be let loose at any moment.

"I'm sorry, Dae." Her voice is barely audible. She's consumed with guilt for what she's done to her brothers, what she's doing to them now and what she's going to do to them. "I never meant to pull all of you into this mess. It's my problem, and-" Damon pulls her into his arms.

"Silly Bells," His laugh is pained, but it's a solid effort. "Silly, silly Bella." She throws her arms around him in return, squeezing her eyes shut to keep her tears from falling as Damon tells her that it's not her fault, that she would never hurt them on purpose, that it's _their _mess now and they're going to help her with it.

Somehow, Damon knows exactly what to say.

_He_'d always known exactly what to say, too.

She sighs heavily and pulls away from her brother. It's time to tell them the truth. They've always been so good, so understanding… they're her brothers, not her father and they'll hear her out. They'll understand.

"What's wrong?" Damon asks, watching her with concerned eyes.

"I need to tell you guys something." She announces and Damon allows her to lead them back to the rest of the group. Stefan leans forward in anticipation as she sits down.

"During the party," Bella turns to Damon who hovers close to her. "You asked me about Europe, and why I disappeared for nearly fifty years." This is news to Elena, whose eyes widen. Fifty years is a long time for any human to be doing anything, let alone be missing.

Damon scoffs. "I knew it. No one backpacks around Europe for fifty freaking years." He rolls his eyes, expressing just how weak Bella's excuse had been.

"But they do for twenty, which is what I did." Bella counters, revealing, for the first time, a small half of the truth.

"And what about the other twenty-odd years that you were gone?" Stefan asks, thinking of the information he's gathered on his sister. He feels horrible, as if he's been spying on her, but Bella had left him with no choice.

Bella draws a deep breath, taking a moment to organize her thoughts. And then she begins.

"Before I tell you about Europe, you need to know why I left the country. And that's another story entirely, dating back to 1917…" She hesitates for a moment, leaving Stefan to fill in the details.

"In Chicago." He supplies, thinking of the list he'd shown Damon. Bella's last known location before her disappearance for nearly half a century. His sister nods.

"What was in Chicago?" Damon asks before Bella can go on and she scowls at him.

"Patience, Dae." She preaches before answering him.

"In the year 1917, there was a lot going on in Chicago. The country had just declared war, rumors of a certain Damon Salvatore could be found everywhere and the Masens were living a good life."

Alice's eyes widen as she mouths the last name Bella has just spoken of. She turns to her friend with incredulous eyes but Bella is too focused on her brothers to notice.

"I wasn't even there." Damon frowns, having heard his name. He'd been in the area a few years earlier, but not in 1917. Stefan is deep in thought, thinking of his time in Chicago just a few years later. Bella nods in response to Damon's statement.

"You weren't, but the ghost of you was." She says cryptically, with a little quirk of her lips. "Damon Salvatore, breaking hearts and taking lives. Did you really think no one noticed you? Or that no one would remember you?"

"Well, they did." The youngest Salvatore goes on without waiting for Damon's answer to her rhetorical question. "And vampires are awfully chatty, brother. I heard the rumors and by then, I'd started suspecting Katherine of not telling me the whole truth. I did not believe that she would have killed _both _of you, and so I'd started looking around. When I heard your name, I caught the first train out to Chicago."

This is where it gets hard. Her brothers are _not _going to be happy, and little Alice is already glaring at her for having kept all of this from her knowledge.

"You were long gone and so I made arrangements to leave the very next morning… but I couldn't."

"Couldn't?" Stefan picks up on the keyword.

Bella sighs and averts her gaze to the roaring fire, painfully aware of the curious, alert eyes observing her.

"The night before my train was to leave, I saw him."

"Who?" Elena, who has been relatively quiet, speaks up.

Bella makes a last-minute decision and turns to Alice with a sad smile on her face. Her eyes are apologetic, but only slightly.

"Edward Masen."

All hell breaks loose as Alice springs to her feet and starts demanding an explanation, Damon rolls his eyes and starts going on and on about how _of course_ this is about a boy and Stefan quickly catches on to the situation, surprising his siblings.

"Edward Masen and Edward Cullen." He states slowly with a dark look at his sister. "They wouldn't happen to be one and the same." His dry tone ends on a flat note, indicating that this isn't a question.

Bella meets his stare defiantly. "They would."

"So much for scientific curiosity." Damon accuses her, citing her earlier reason for targeting the Cullens.

"Just because I knew one of them doesn't make the coven, as a whole, any less fascinating." She defends herself.

Alice clears her throat, arms crossed and one foot tapping periodically. "Ahem. Part of that fascinating coven is right here." She indicates her presence. "And would like a freaking explanation! Bella! You knew Edward? Human Edward? And you didn't even tell me! What the hell?"

"Yeah, apparently you forgot to mention that one _little_ detail, Bells." Damon adds in, drawing out the word _little_ and emphasizing it by holding his thumb and forefinger a minute distance apart.

Alice shoots her brother a dirty look and goes on and on about how _she should've told her _and _it all makes sense _and _this changes everything_. Bella rolls her eyes at the last one.

"Alice!" She snaps, shocking everyone. "This. Changes. _Nothing_."

The young vampire falters. "But-"

"_But _nothing." Bella states evenly and firmly. "I met Edward Masen in Chicago when he was sixteen. We met at parks and discussed literature, and he was so young and naïve that I thought of him as a complete sweetheart. He fancied himself in love with me and decided to share that little piece of information with me, effectively ending our little fling. He was a human boy and I was a vampire, and he was just an innocent little thing who would never be able to deal with my true nature. So I compelled him and left."

"A few months later, the Spanish Influenza hit Chicago, wiping out most of its lower- and middle-class inhabitants. Edward was thoroughly middle-class and I knew he wouldn't have survived. Well, not in any way that counts." She amends; the boy had obviously pulled through, just in a way that doesn't really count.

"He was just another in a long line of human companions who had somehow died for reasons unrelated to me after I'd terminated our relationship. I became convinced that I was cursed, doomed to bring death to all those who were in my company." It had been a dark time for her; somehow, each human friend she had made in every stop along her cross-country journey had died, for completely random reasons. She had deserted Katherine and basically killed her brothers, and she wasn't even capable of protecting a few humans. Edward's death had just pushed her to see the obvious: she was bad news.

"And so I left." She sighs.

Her conclusion is greeted by silence as her audience absorbs the short story she's just filled them in on. Stefan and Damon look at her with mixed emotions; Elena's eyes are sad and so is her tiny smile when she meets Bella's eyes. Alice breaks the silence.

"What was my brother to you, Bella?" She asks softly but Bella doesn't miss how cold she sounds. If there's one word you would never associate with Alice Cullen, _cold_ is probably it. Apparently Alice is hurt.

Bella purses her lips momentarily in distaste. The Volturi has fallen, an army is headed their way, the most dangerous man in the world is after her and Alice is hung up on _this_?

"It does not matter." She retorts just as coldly. She's already pushed herself this far; now it's time for the most important part of her story and she's not going to let Alice and her obsessive notion of having Bella and her brother together delay her from sharing her past with her brothers.

She turns to her brothers, fully prepared to come clean with them. Alice bursts out in protest.

"It _does not matter_?" She shrieks, her hands jerking around. "Do you not realize what you've done? What you've kept from me?"

"Yes, yes," Bella rolls her eyes dismissively. "This is all earth-shattering news and we should talk about it at length. _Later_, Alice." She forces through gritted teeth, trying to communicate with the pissed off pixie through her eyes.

"No!" The Cold One shouts, oblivious to Bella's eye-contact. "You swooped into my family's life, fit yourself in like a long-lost puzzle piece, got your fill of observing us and just up and _left_, breaking my brother's heart. And now I find out that it's not even the first time? What the hell is wrong with you, Isabella? What did my brother ever-"

"Alice, that is _enough_." Bell states firmly, cutting her off. "Thank you for delivering your message. It is much appreciated and will certainly go a long way in aiding preparations. However, I think it's time you returned to your family, don't you?" She says pointedly, getting up and crossing the room, standing by the entry.

Alice gapes speechlessly at her friend's abrupt dismissal.

"Bella!" She gasps, hurt.

The raven-haired vampire forces on a mask of indifference. "It was nice to see you again, Alice. Send my regards to Carlisle and Esme, please."

Alice's jaw clenches resolutely. She stalks past Bella without a single word – not even a look – and slams the front door behind her.

Damon stares at his sister. "Well, that wasn't very-"

Bella puts up a finger to her lips, signaling for him to keep quiet. They stand in silence for a good two minutes before she sighs and walks back to the group.

"-polite." Damon finally ends his sentence.

"It was the only way I knew of to get her out of here." Bella shrugs even though it's evident in her eyes that she had hated every single second of that. Her brothers stare at her curiously as she relishes in no longer having to control her every thought; she had been very careful not to resolve to say anything while Alice was around, fearing that the little psychic would see or hear some things that she does not need to know.

"Why did you need her gone?" Elena seems to be the only one brave enough to ask.

"Because now," Bella pauses as she sits herself down, causing everyone to hold their breaths in anticipation.

"I'm going to tell you about Klaus."

She meets her brothers' eyes, first Stefan's, then Damon's. They sport equally grim expressions, concern and just a hint of anger in their eyes. Anger towards Klaus? Or her?

She can't tell and she doesn't want to know.

_Like a Band-Aid_, she chants in her mind. _Just get it over with_.

Of course, there's no getting it over with, not this time. She can't just blurt out a few select words and wait for the truth to sink in on her brothers. No, she owes them everything – names, dates, places… details. Memories, no matter how painful they are.

"In the year 1918, I left the country to see the world. My first stop was Bulgaria, because try as I might," She grimaced. "Some part of me was unwilling to completely let go of Katherine. Going to her hometown, hunting down her grave – she was dead to her family the day they disowned her and it was easier to just tell everyone she'd actually died -, seeing the place she called home… it did me good, I think. It helped bring back the memories, both good and bad, and for the first time since 1864, I wasn't so bitter and cold. And it reminded me of the fact that I was capable of having friends without somehow killing them. I just wasn't capable of keeping them, but that was another matter." She shrugs. Her heart sinks a bit thinking of Katherine and their lost sisterhood and last night, but she shrugs and she smiles and she soldiers on.

"Somewhat healed, I left Bulgaria and hit up the next location on my list… London."

Her audience had been silent throughout the first half of her tale, listening with rapt attention. Now, however, Damon speaks up with a quick comment, as if to lighten to mood.

"Huh, I never did get around to visiting."

Bella shoots him a dark look. "Good. You wouldn't have come back."

She's being a tad overdramatic, maybe, but you never know with – she mentally trips over his name – Klaus. After all, Katherine is still on the run after… what, five hundred years? And that's _after _he killed all of her family. Bella has escaped relatively unscathed, and so she doesn't trust him to get at her in the worst way possible. He'd probably jump at any chance to hurt her, not that he hadn't already that night…

Damon watches her cautiously, as do Stefan and Elena. She sighs and ignores them.

"Where was I?" She mutters. "Oh, yes."

"London, 1918."

* * *

**Please note that in this AU, Stefan and Klaus did not meet in Chicago in 1922. In fact, they've never met. And yes, the Originals are still from Mystic Falls and all that; Klaus has just taken to London as an operational base of sorts.**

**I think we're about half done now. I'm going to get to work on the other half; hopefully it'll go quicker than this and I'll be able to start working on the sequel before I take my usual Christmas break, which is when I stop work on all stories and write Christmas specials. Any ideas/requests for this year?**

**And for those of you who've seen the midseason finale – what an episode, am I right? Really reminds us of what Klaus is capable of… just as I start writing him. Couldn't have timed it better myself.**

**As usual, thanks to the readers who reviewed and put this little fic on your favorites/alerts. Feedback is always welcomed with a warm, mushy feeling in my stomach. (The good kind that you get from hot chocolate, not the worrying medical kind.)**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	16. Fifteen

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Fifteen : Affair**

* * *

_**London, 1918**_

_There was a chill in the air as her heels clicked on the pavements and her hands hid inside her pockets. She wasn't all that cold or uncomfortable, but she was sure to raise eyebrows had she gone out in a summer dress and danced down the streets._

_Appearances. Everything was done for appearances these days. She boarded with an old family as their long lost niece for appearances' sake. She minded her behavior and her hunts for appearances' sake. She danced and laughed and lived for appearances' sake._

_London wasn't good for her, not the way Bulgaria had been. Her heart had twisted in her chest the moment she had set foot in this city, and that feeling of unease had yet to let up on her. Dread had weighed down her stomach every day since her arrival four days ago, and her heart was heavy with sorrow for reasons she was not aware of – reasons she _chose_ not to be aware of._

_Her nightly walks did her little good but it was better than moping about in the grand mansion she'd taken up in, with the elderly couple who thought of her as a niece shadowing her every move and fretting over her every sigh. It was better to be here, out and about, all alone with her thoughts, in the darkness… where she belonged._

_Lightning split the sky in half as thunder rumbled. _

_Bella sighed heavily. She had been to many rainy little towns in her second life but she had held high expectations for London. The storms here were different, though. Different from the ones at home, all warm and humid. Here the icy raindrops could work their way into one's heart and chill them from the inside out._

_She stopped in her tracks and snorted out loud._

"_Dramatic much?" She muttered under her breath, a reproach meant for her own ears._

_The sky lit up for a split second, followed by what sounded like an almighty roar. It was time to go home. Bella picked up her pace, looking up at the dark sky as bolts of lightning danced across the night. Just as she was about to turn a corner, her senses picked up on another scent._

_Vampire._

_Whipping her head back down to the sidewalk, her eyes searched the darkness ahead. The flickering lamp overhead did little to illuminate the long stretch of alleyway in front of her and her sharp sight didn't pick up on any movement. But she knew someone was there. She could hear it, smell it, feel it._

"_Who's there?" She called lightly, almost sounding friendly._

_A taunting laugh rang out across the darkness, the wind carrying it to her ears. Bella growled; she did not enjoy being mocked._

"_Show yourself!" She demanded firmly and heatedly._

_Mocking laughter rang out once more as Bella growled and stalked forward, leaving behind the relative safety of an open pavement lit up by weak lights._

_She saw him then, a young man leaning against a brick wall… a dead end._

"_Took you long enough!" He called in a strong accent, a smirk on his face. Bella wanted nothing more than to close the distance between them and punch it off his smug face._

"_Who are you?" She demanded once more, balling up her fists. The man – vampire, and old, she was sure of it – took one look at her tightly clenched fists and laughed._

"_Fat lot of good that'll do you, doll."_

_She was a relatively young, volatile vampire who hadn't fed in four days because everyone in this damned city was fond of vervain tea and he was taunting her. It really wasn't her fault when she ran ahead and held out one hand, intending to choke him._

_A hand landed on her shoulder, fingers gripping on tightly. Bella came to a halt and tried to turn around._

"_I don't think so, little one." A woman's voice hissed in her ear._

_She grew still. The man was still lounging against the wall, watching the scene unfold with crossed arms and an amused smirk. The woman had now pulled her hands behind her back, holding them together._

_The man nodded, satisfied. "Gretchen, if you will."_

_Bella wondered how they would kill her. She wondered _why_. Perhaps this was their stomping ground and she had intruded. Never mind. She was going to die and she wasn't going to beg for mercy. She glared defiantly at the man who had just ordered her death._

_Suddenly, another woman appeared to her left, having hidden behind a door. She had her eyes closed and her hands held out, and she was chanting urgently. Bella's eyes widened as she realized just who she was up against._

"_Witch." She gasped as the woman neared her. Blood rushed through her ears and a pounding began in her head. She felt weak, weak and dazed as blind spots clouded her vision._

_And then the darkness pulled her under._

* * *

_Red._

_Red flooded her sight the second her eyelids peeled back. The walls were red. The fluttering gauze surrounding her was a shimmering red. The sheets fisted in her hands were-_

_Sheets. Why did she have sheets – luxurious ones at that – in her hands?_

_Bella quickly shot up to a sitting position, taking in her surroundings as she struggled to recall the exact details of her current predicament. Everything was red – disturbingly so. Perhaps the color would be brought out by sunlight, but there was no sunlight. There were windows, and thick velvet curtains that allowed for the smallest beams of moonlight to sneak in. There was a set of double doors, a dark wood of some sort, set into red walls._

_She pushed back the sheets and raced for the door as her memory slowly came to her. She had been ambushed, attacked, taken. She had been ready to meet her end and instead she was being kept… in a bedroom? Bella shuddered at the possibilities._

_Her legs carried her across the room in no time and she quickly pushed against the door, meeting resistance. In her anxiety, she had forgotten all about the ornate handles set into both doors. Chiding herself in her mind, Bella quickly reached for the handles and pushed… then pulled. Nothing happened. The doors did not give; they didn't even budge._

_Bella steadied herself against the doors, flat palms applying pressure. She closed her eyes and reorganized her thoughts before taking a few steps backwards. With a deep inhale, she set off running, prepared to crash through the doors._

_She didn't even succeed in splintering them._

_Sinking to the ground with her back against the stubborn doors, Bella fought to maintain her composure and rational thought. The doors were charmed, that had to be it. Powerfully charmed by a strong witch, just like the one that had apparently knocked her out for a whole day. _

_As far as she knew, it was possible that she had just been taken hours ago, but for some reason she was convinced the witch had put her down for much, much longer than a couple of hours._

_Sitting at the entrance of the room, she was able to take in her prison cell in a clinical assessment. It certainly wasn't your average prison cell, but she didn't know whether to be comforted or scared by that. The ceiling was done in the same shade of red as the rest of the room and featured a chandelier. It seemed a bit excessive – a chandelier in a guest bedroom - but provided some insight into her abductors. What little furniture the room had – it featured a bed, a dresser and a study – was all done in a uniform kind of wood, identical to the doors she was resting against. The bed was huge and took up most of the room, with its four-poster frame, billowing red shades and thick mattress._

_There was something horribly unsettling about the seemingly common – well, extraordinarily grand – room. The answer hovered at the edges of Bella's thoughts, slipping away like a wet bar of soap each time she tried to pin it down._

_Her eyes swept around the room again, and again, and again._

_She was distracted by a pressing matter before she could figure it out. Bella was hungry, and not for food. She needed blood and she needed it right then._

_Raising slim fingers to clutch at her neck, she got to her feet and started pacing in front of the doors, trying to find a way out of her predicament, hopefully one that wouldn't get her killed, or take more than three days. She needed to feed, desperately._

_And then it clicked in her mind._

_The entire room was done in blood red. The walls, the curtains, the upholstery on the headboard… everywhere she looked, her mind registered the sight of that which she craved, only to be disappointed when it was not accompanied by sustenance._

_Surely this was some twisted form of torture pioneered by her captor to drive one mad. Already she felt as if she were suffocating in the spacious room. Her usually well-controlled hunger was getting the better of her, driving her to desperation. _

_It was suspicious, to say the least. She had only gone three days without feeding; even a relatively young vampire like her wouldn't be so drained. She grew certain that something was terribly wrong, that they had done something to her. Maybe the witch had drained her of her energy. Maybe this disturbing room was messing with her mind. _

_The only thing she was certain of was that she had to escape, immediately. And if the doors would not budge, she would find another way out. Bella quickly crossed the room and stood in front of the windows, pulling back the heavy curtains to find a view of lush, green gardens that morphed into what seemed to be a forest. A plan formed in her mind. She would jump out of the window, sprint across the gardens and put as much distance between herself and her captor as possible._

_Retreating to get enough distance for a running start, Bella stood in place for a moment, bracing herself for what was to come. She was weak, horribly so, but if she pushed herself, she would be able to take refuge in the forest before slowing down._

_She closed her eyes and started running before she could talk herself out of the plan. Her eyes flew open as she approached the window but she quickly shut them once more as she braced herself for impact._

_The doors to her room opened just as the window seemingly rejected her and pushed her back into the room like a great big bouncing ball, sending her flying across the room until she crashed into the opposite wall._

_A middle-aged blonde with bright blue eyes gasped as Bella landed on the ground and quickly set a tray down on the nearby desk before hurrying over to Bella's side. Even as she examined the dazed girl, her lips twitched in amusement. Finally, she straightened up and held out a hand, smiling as Bella reached for it and allowed herself to be pulled up._

"_You know, darling," The woman spoke for the first time in a strong, aristocratic-sounding accent. "If you wanted to leave so badly, all you had to do was ask."_

_Bella gaped at the woman. Was this the vampire behind her kidnapping? She was beautiful, graceful, elegant, poised… everything one would never think to associate a kidnapper with. And her comment caught Bella off guard._

"_I'm free to go?" She asked, scrambling to her feet with the woman's assistance. She quickly pulled her hand back and used it to straighten out her clothes, self-consciously smoothing down her blouse._

"_Oh, I'm afraid not, young Bella." The woman sighed as if it was not her decision._

_Bella's spirits fell even as she chastised herself for holding out hope. She decided to move on to more pressing matters._

"_How do you know my name? Why am I here?"_

_The woman simply turned her back to Bella and went to retrieve the tray she had set down. "I have a little something for you." She smiled, presenting Bella with a goblet. Red liquid swished inside but it did not have the consistency of wine._

_Blood._

_She smelled it just as she had figured it out and worked hard to keep her fangs contained. First, she had to learn more._

"_Do I know you?" She demanded, ignoring the woman's offering. The strange vampire's lips pulled down, as if she was displeased, and she glided past Bella, setting the tray down on the nightstand. _

"_I do not think so." She answered evenly, a polite smile in place once more. Bella scowled; this woman was of no use to her. Surely it would be smarter to simply immobilize her and run out of the doors, which she had left wide open._

"_I am Helena." The woman suddenly stated and Bella turned to her curiously._

"_Charmed." She quipped with a sarcastic smile. "Now if you would please answer my questions." Bella insisted, invading the woman's personal space._

_Helena backed away, hovering by one end of the bed. "All will be revealed, young one." She assured the agitated vampire. "But for now," She looked directly into Bella's questioning eyes. "You must feed."_

_Bella's vision swam out of focus as she stared into Helena's blue eyes. She snapped out of it when the vampire dropped her eyes, breaking eye contact. Trying to make sense of what had just happened, Bella unconsciously reached for the full goblet, missing Helena's smug smile._

"_I'm sorry," Bella smiled apologetically before taking a sip out of the blood goblet. "I must feed." She explained, and it was true because suddenly the most acute sensation of being _starved _was coursing through her. She had to feed, there was no way around it. She took greedy sips of blood, draining every last drop without even a pause for air._

_Helena reached for the empty goblet and she wordlessly handed it over, her eyes drawn to Helena's. Blue orbs seemed to hold her captive as Helena spoke once more, in a gentle, persuasive tone._

"_You are tired. You must rest. Sleep, Isabella." She crooned, her eyes seemingly growing bluer by the second. Bella nodded as a cloud of lethargy descended upon her. It did not matter that she had just slept the day away – she needed more rest. She needed to sleep, the way Helena had told her to._

_With stiff movements, Bella found herself getting under the blood red covers she had just thrown off herself a while ago. "I must rest." She stated, her eyes staring blankly at Helena's retreating form. The vampire came to a pause just before the doors, turning around to observe the young woman her son had sent his men for. Soon, she would be instructed on her purpose. And her son would convince the girl of what needed to be done. Everything was falling into place._

"_Good girl."_

* * *

_When she came to once more, Bella found that she had been right in her guess that the color scheme was easier on the eyes once warmed by the sun's rays. Sunlight filtered in through the thick drapes, warming the walls and the sheets, providing a welcome reprieve from the constant chill she had been plagued by since her arrival to the gloomy city._

_But the sun was not the only unexpected sight that greeted her._

_Bella bolted upright as her eyes registered her visitor, modestly clutching the sheets to her neck despite her fully dressed state. The man sat at the foot of the bed, just a short distance away from her. She had never been in the same bed with a stranger, let alone one who looked like a fallen angel, what with his fair hair and bright eyes, eyes that shone with a wicked spark, matching lips that twisted in perverse amusement._

"_I see you've come to, Isabella." He spoke for the first time in an accented voice similar to Helena's, yet so very different. His tone was light, teasing despite the fact that this was their very first conversation and his voice… it made her feel a way she had never felt before, not caused by a mere _voice_. He was amused, that she could tell. By her reaction to discovering his presence, perhaps._

_She composed herself and released the sheets from her death grip, allowing them to pool on her lap as she cleared her throat and strained to attain a somewhat polite, civil front. "I prefer Bella, actually." She corrected him casually, playing along._

_The man nodded. "Bella." He tried her name out with an amused smile – was he amused by everything? – and she struggled to ward off an involuntary shudder at the sound of her name falling from his lips. She pressed her nails into her wrist, telling herself to get a grip. This man, for all she knew, was probably the one who had ordered her kidnapping and here she was, swooning over him like a pathetic child. It was very unbecoming and nothing at all like her usual self. She had been around a while and had dealt with a respectable number of suitors, quickly developing a resistance to deceiving charms, shallow appearances and the likes._

_But this man, whose name she had yet to learn…_

_She considered rectifying that oversight – surely it was always better to know the basics about your captor – but he beat her to another attempt at conversation by moving infinitesimally closer and giving her a quick once-over, as if to check for any injuries or the likes._

"_I trust you feel well, Bella?" He asked gently. She stared at him uncomprehendingly. She barely knew this man – she did not know him at all – and yet she could tell that being gentle was a contradiction to his usual nature. Something just convinced her that he was not as sweet and kind as he appeared to be right now. The fact that he was inquiring about her condition after having two vampires and a witch attack and kidnap her fueled her suspicion._

_Upon noticing her blank stare, he spoke again. "The circumstances surrounding your…" He hesitated then and she waited to see what he would call her kidnapping, but she was disappointed. "… arrival were quite unusual, and I fear they might have taken a toll on your physical well-being."_

_Then why would he have taken her in such a manner in the first place, she felt like demanding. Instead she plastered a forced smile across her face and nodded. "I am well, thank you."_

"_I'm pleased." He genuinely seemed to be and she wondered once more just what this man was up to. He had orchestrated her kidnapping yet here he was, acting almost fond of her. It was truly puzzling and a tad concerning. Perhaps this vampire – she could sense it – had taken an interest in her and was merely expressing it in an unfortunate manner?_

_No, that did not sound right._

"_I do apologize for the unfortunate circumstances." He smiled sheepishly, in a charming manner. "But I'm afraid it was the only way. You would not have called around for tea, would you?" He guessed, and she wondered just how much he knew about her, this nameless stranger, and _why_._

_She told herself to play along until she could trick him into revealing a way out or something useful, so she smiled tightly and laughed softly. "No," She agreed. "No, I wouldn't have." It's true; she would have denied the invitation without even casting a glance at it._

_She chanced another look into his eyes – they really were quite striking – and quickly dropped her gaze when she met his own steady look as he observed her. They remained in a tentative silence as he rested his case and she pondered the mystery that was him._

_She had a million questions but hesitated in voicing them out loud and so the silence stretched until it grew vaguely uncomfortable, especially after he'd taken to keeping his eyes on her and she had started squirming and blushing under his observation._

_She felt a slight shift in the mattress as he rose to his feet. "I'm afraid I must excuse myself for now." He announced with a smirk. Bella thought she detected disappointment in his voice. He reached forward for her right hand and placed a feather light kiss to the back of her hand as she sighed softly at his gesture._

"_May I escort you to dinner tonight?" He requested, locking eyes with her. In that moment, it did not matter that she had been taken, that she was locked up, that she could have been in danger. She nodded silently, unable to take her eyes off his. It was as if she was under a spell, but it did not bother her._

_He smiled, his eyes twinkling as if pleased and released her hand. It was only when he turned his back to her that she was broken out of whatever enchantment she had fallen under._

"_Wait!" She called frantically, and he turned around with curious yet alert yes. She blurted out her question before she could fall prey to his gaze._

"_What is your name?"_

_Understanding dawned in his eyes as his lips twisted into a smirk once more, and he provided her with a simple one-worded answer that left her speechless, gasping and wide-eyed as he turned on his hell and disappeared through the double doors._

"_Klaus."_

* * *

_Days flew by like the falling leaves carried by the autumn wind as Bella was held by Klaus. She had been relocated to proper living quarters, she was allowed to roam the mansion freely and she took daily strolls across the expansive grounds each day with a companion, usually one of Klaus's many siblings._

_The blood they fed her was like nothing she had ever tasted before, like the sweetest ambrosia and the most potent drug in one red cocktail. The vampires she met were like no others, old and wise and from a different time, a different world. _

_And then there was Klaus, who had been presented to her as a mystery, an enigma, a puzzle, one that she was slowly piecing together with each passing day that was spent in his company. Bella soon found that she no longer yearned to escape or leave, despite the fact that she had been taken against her will in the beginning and the vampires had yet to explain that to her._

_She loved the blood and the vampires and the life, and she feared that she might grow to love Klaus too, and then she would truly be stuck here, because she was reluctant enough to consider leaving as it was._

_The only assurance she had against condemning herself to an eternity of captivity was the fact that she was certain Klaus did not reciprocate, and she knew that it would not be long before she would grow frustrated and leave. After all, Bella knew where she was not wanted and not loved, and in her book those were one and the same._

_These dark, doubting thoughts formed a perpetual storm cloud over Bella's new found happiness, and with each passing day, her uncertainty grew until finally, she could bear it no longer._

"_Why must you shadow me?" She had shrieked at the most powerful man in existence, who had simply been trailing after her as she had strolled through the gardens. Klaus had seemed reasonably taken aback but had bitten his tongue in favor of taking the higher road, something he seemed to be doing a lot for her these days. He did not know the cause but treating Bella the way he treated most others would usually cause him to toss and turn in bed all night, wrestling guilt and unease for snapping at her, shouting at her, lording his power over her… the usual, really, except it wasn't when it came to Bella._

_And so, fighting the urge to storm away with a biting comment, he told her the truth, albeit in a very roundabout way. Who would've thought that he, vampire extraordinaire, would be so incredibly nervous to 'spill the beans', as they had taken to calling it._

"_Why," He smiled slyly, walking briskly to close the distance between them. "I was fairly convinced that a good courtship necessitated long hours."_

"_And a chaperone." She muttered before growing still. He had missed her halt and had kept walking until he realized that he did not hear her footsteps and had quickly turned around, making his way back to a murmuring Bella as she recited sentence after sentence of subdued conversation under her breath. Finally, she came to an end, seemingly convinced of something, and looked up with suspiciously bright eyes, taking him by surprise._

"_Is that what this is?" She had whispered, fighting an epic battle inside her mind. She longed for this to be a courtship, had prayed for it even. But at the same time, she felt skepticism and apprehension at his inexplicable behavior, periodic disappearances and frequent mood swings. Then there was, of course, the fact that she was technically his captive for reasons unknown to her._

_She awaited his answer with baited breath, taking in the sight of his twinkling eyes and amused smile. He was toying with her, confirming what he had already suspected. Disappointment swelled in her heart as she struggled to keep a mask in place, turning on her heel to storm ahead._

_A hand encircled her waist from behind and drew her back to him, putting them face to face. She was forced to look into his eyes, eyes that Klaus usually tried so hard to keep empty underneath superficial emotions. She had seen him amused, pleased and angry but she had never seen him happy or sad, such simple emotions for most of the world._

_Today his eyes were happy._

"_Bella," He smiled, a true smile unlike the half-formed grins he would sometimes offer her. _

"_Yes?" She breathed._

"_I would very much like to court you… if you'll allow me."_

_The mere notion of two immortal beings going through such an utterly human rite, coupled with the fact that he did, in fact, reciprocate, was enough to push Bella to do something entirely out of character._

_She brought her hands up to frame his face and, wearing a grin so wide it almost felt like it would split her face into half, she closed the small distance between them and kissed him._

_And just like that, she was kissing Klaus. Klaus, the most powerful and feared of all vampires. Klaus, the Original from whom she was probably descended from. Klaus, the man who had taken her for God knows what and was now asking to court her._

_They were young and impulsive, not to mention highly passionate vampires rather than shy human children, and so the kiss morphed from something tentative into a hungry lip lock, with wandering hands and gentle nipping as he held her in place by holding her waist and she moved her hands from his neck to his hair, weaving her fingers in between golden hair._

_Finally, even though they required no air, Klaus broke apart, allowing them a short break as he pressed his forehead against hers, still holding her close. Bella breathed rapidly, drawing shallow breaths as her lips curved into a smile._

"_No chaperone." She murmured against his lips and he did the most wonderful thing: he threw his head back and laughed, agreeing with her before kissing her once more._

"_No chaperone." _

* * *

"_Has anyone seen Bella?" Klaus asked idly, walking into the study where a number of vampires, mostly his family, were milling about. Each looked up from whatever it was they were doing to shake their heads _no_._

_Klaus nodded in acknowledgement before retreating to his quarters where he had his own study, allowing him solitude and peace. He was not concerned by Bella's absence; she would not abandon him, he knew as much, and he had bound her to the grounds to keep her from the outside world. He had yet to tell her that, of course, but she suspected as much and had reluctantly accepted his reasoning – he was Klaus, the most powerful of Originals, the first vampire, a man with a past. There were many who yearned to harm him and a good number of cruel monsters who would not hesitate before using her as a pawn in their game of retribution._

_But they were slowly working on a compromise. It was an odd and foreign concept for Klaus, who had grown accustomed to force, threats and the likes to get his way, but it was different with Bella. He was willing to hear her out and understand her, and tried to make the best of their situation to keep her happy. Keeping Bella happy was his only true objective._

_Well, and keeping her alive. He frowned as he went through his research once more. The original plan had been simple – all he had needed was to unbind himself from her, to cut apart their destinies. But that would have included her death and things had changed. He was no longer willing to see that as collateral damage. If he could not kill her to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled, then he would simply make sure that no one else could ever harm a hair on her head. It was as simple as that, really. Once Bella was invincible, he would not have to fret over their very existences each moment that she was out of his sight._

_First things first: they would have to set a date for her hosting. It was the easiest and fastest way of gaining substantial power and he was reluctant to leave her wandering around as a mere vampire any longer than absolutely necessary. Bella, on the other hand, was reluctant to 'suck the soul out of the dead', as she had so eloquently put it the other night. He had laughed it off and asked if it was any different sucking the life out of the living and she had abruptly left and locked herself in her chambers. Nevertheless, Klaus was convinced that he would be able to persuade Bella to see things his way. After all, he was merely trying to keep her – and by extension, him – alive._

_He rose from his chair and quickly hid his studies before venturing out into the mansion. It was time to find Bella._

_His study led to his room, and his room overlooked the gardens, Bella's favorite part of the estate. He stood by his window, searching for a flash of raven hair or emerald material – he was sure that was what she had put on this morning._

_Finally, he found her, but not as her dress billowed behind her or her hair flew wildly in the wind. No, Klaus had found Bella merely because she was fighting Elijah as they zipped all over the grounds._

_Seething, he unlocked the floor-length windows and step out to the balcony, where he leaped down into the hedges below without a moment's hesitation. Using his enhanced speed, he quickly ran to where he had last seen the fighting duo and focused on the sound of movements before locating them a little distance to his left. He swooped in, pulling Elijah away just as his brother retrieved a dagger from his suit and held it high enough to reveal his intentions. Bella was backed into a thick, old tree and watched on in a mix of horror and admiration as he fought his brother._

"_Are you bloody _insane_?" Klaus roared, finally disarming Elijah._

"_Katerina is out there!" Elijah said instead of an answer, and all the pieces of the puzzle quickly fell into place. Of course. Katerina, that meddling bitch. Even while on the run from him and living out the rest of her wretched life, she was able to come between the brothers. It must have been a Petrova thing, he thought bitterly as his brother went on and on about finding Katerina, or Katherine as she was now known. _

"_Enough!" He growled, stalking towards his brother who had paced away from him. He held Elijah in place by gripping his shoulder. "Do you know what her death would have done to me, Elijah? Do you truly wish pain and suffering upon your own brother?"_

_He phrased it carefully so that the other two present would think of it in the romantic sense, as if he could not bear to live with Bella. And in all honesty, he was not certain that he could. But he was careful not to reveal the literal truth behind his words. If Bella were to perish, he would desiccate and ultimately die a slow and painful death._

_He held his brother's eyes for a moment, willing him to understand what was at stake. Elijah pulled away, putting a good distance between them._

"_You had no reservations to do the same to me, Niklaus." He growled uncharacteristically, yet the subtle undertone of pain and echoes of loss were familiar to Klaus, who had spent the last four hundred years or so listening to Elijah rant bitterly about his loss._

"_Elijah-" He stepped forward, intending to calm down his brother. He did not feel guilt for his actions, for what he had done to Katerina or even the pain he had unwittingly inflicted upon his brother, but he was sick and tired of this debacle and was more than willing to put it behind him if Elijah would just leave his fiancée alone._

_And Elijah did just that, disappearing with one last painful, hate-filled glance._

_Klaus sighed for a moment, wondering just why all of his siblings had to be overdramatic before quickly hurrying to Bella's side. She had just gotten on her feet but she looked drained and he knew she would have to feed before she could regain her strength. He was proud of her; for a vampire less than a hundred years of age, she had held her own remarkably against one of the oldest vampires in history._

"_Bella," He sighed, pulling her close to support her. She rested her head against his shoulder, allowing him to hold her up. She looked disheveled and pale but other than that, his eyes could find no other damage. "Are you alright, love?" He asked, fearing that he had missed something._

_She pulled back and looked into his eyes before nodding wordlessly and he pulled her back to him once more. If he had been a little later, if Elijah had been a little more persistent, if Bella had been any weaker… this entire scene had just driven his point home, and he said as much to Bella as he murmured in her ear._

"Now_ do you understand why I want you to host?" He chided her. She nodded in his arms._

"_When can we leave?"_

_He smiled, running his fingers through her loose hair. "First thing tomorrow." He promised._

_This time tomorrow, Bella would no longer be a young vampire. She would be strong, powerful, indestructible. She would be an equal to any respectable vampire. She would be safe._

* * *

_As war raged on in the outside world, their estate was seemingly cut off from the rest of the world, a little slice of safe haven where nothing posed a threat to their utopian grounds. Most people knew, instinctively, better than to disturb them and those who did not were served as dinner. The first of the soldiers who had attempted some hostile takeover or the likes had met their ends in some completely grotesque, macabre manner and had been left a short distance away for their partners in arms to stumble upon, and they had been wise enough to never return. So the Originals and theirs lived happily, safely and peacefully, only venturing out when they felt like it._

_One particular night, Bella found herself extremely eager to return home to Klaus after a long day spent in town. After her hosting, he had been very persistent in proving her strength and assuring her that she had not lost her freedom, and so he would occasionally convince her to go into town and have some fun, see some sights and such. It was great fun, to be out and about amongst the unsuspecting humans, but that particular night, as she sat alone in the carriage, listening to the hooves of the horses beating against the ground, she felt bored and lonely and longed for her family._

_Her family. After a good sixty years or so of being completely and utterly alone, it had taken some getting used to, having people she cared about and who cared for her in return. People who would dine with her and laugh with her and sit with her just because they were family and family stuck together, always. It was the most important thing in Klaus's family, sticking together with your family. She had felt miserable upon learning of their close-knitted ties, especially since she blamed herself for driving off Elijah, but they had accepted her into their ranks anyway and had seemingly replaced Elijah with her. They no longer spoke of him or even sighed wistfully every once in a while, and no one seemed to mind the fact that they had lost one of their own, too busy welcoming her with open arms._

_It unsettled her, just a little bit, but she had pushed it to the back of her mind and had reveled in being a part of something, a family, once more._

_Finally, the horses pulled up to the place she now called home and she sighed happily, allowing herself inside. She walked from room to room, searching for one of Klaus's many siblings who were usually all over the place, but she found nothing save for empty, dark rooms._

_A hissing sound caught her attention just as she was about to head upstairs and she stopped in her tracks, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear as she concentrated on using her newly-improved hearing to listen closely._

_The hissing had been a hushed, frantic whisper and more followed, leading Bella to a long, darkened hallway with many doors, only one of which was slightly cracked open, allowing a sliver of light to paint the floor. She remained at her end of the hallway, a good distance away from the room and focused on the conversation._

"_How long will this game go on?" Elizabeth, one of the twin sisters, hissed. Her next words made Bella miserable. "We have already lost a brother!" Elijah. They were talking about Elijah, the brother she had driven away._

_The following whisper was even, calm and resolute. "For as long as it needs to."_

_Klaus. Klaus was admitting to a game of sorts, one that related to the loss of Elijah. Her heart sunk as her stomach knotted, dreading a certain possibility. A game… could she be a pawn in this game? She chided herself for being such an insecure, pathetic girl and listened for more, assuring herself that matters would soon become clear._

"_Klaus," Helena spoke, and Bella pictured the soft, motherly vampire in her mind's eye, the one she had caught sobbing behind closed doors a few days after Elijah's departure. "You know this is crucial."_

_They were all in on this game, she surmised. Even sweet, kind Helena. Dread pooled in her stomach as the worst possibilities came to mind. She resolved to stay and find out the truth rather than give into her urge to run away and hide from reality._

"_Need I not remind you that it is crucial _for me_?" Klaus spoke harshly. Bella had never heard him address his mother in such a manner._

_Eleanor, the other twin, spoke up with a tinkling laugh. "You know Niklaus is fond of our little pet, Mother."_

_Klaus chuckled, as if amused. She brought one hand to her heart at the words 'little pet' and braced herself for the worst. _

_And she was right to do so._

"_Whatever do you speak of, Eleanor?" Klaus asked, irritated. "Isabella Salvatore is a means to an end." He stated plainly, breaking her heart with mere words. A hand clapped over her mouth as she struggled to choke down a sob. Her vision was distorted by tears as she waited for more. She had to get out of there but first she had to know why. Why would he use her this way, hurt her this way? Why would he act so completely in love with her?_

"_She will lead us to Katerina Petrova." Her heart twisted. So once again, it was all about Katherine. Katherine, the one who had taken her first family, would now take her second. Katherine, the one who had broken her heart, was now responsible for the same thing once again. Katherine just would not leave her be._

_But the worst was yet to come._

"_And then she will perish."_

_Bella could not hold in her tears any longer. Trembling from the sheer effort of keeping silent, she allowed the saltwater drops to cascade down her cheeks, wrapping her arms around herself in a futile effort to keep her being in one piece. It felt as if she was being torn apart, split into pieces, broken the way her heart was._

_Down the hallway, in that room, his family began to cry in protest. Helena said that she would not allow her son to miss out on love because of his pride. Eleanor called him stupid. Elizabeth scoffed and muttered about him fearing commitment. His brothers defended her, calling him every bad thing in the language for stringing her along._

_Finally, Klaus spoke up._

"_My feelings," He sneered – she could hear it in his voice, the voice she had memorized. "Are irrelevant. I love her-" She clapped both hands over her lips, muffling the sob she had been unable to hold in, but it went unheard over the din of his siblings' mutterings. "And she will die."_

_Someone slammed a hand down on a table – probably Helena, as she spoke next in a determined whisper. "I will _not_ let you chase her off."_

_But Helena did not need to stand in the way._

_Bella was gone in an instant and she never looked back._

* * *

**Woah, pretty sure that's the longest chapter I've ever written here. This story just keeps going on and on, and before I know it I've got pages of ramblings. I hope you enjoyed twenty pages (seven thousand-odd words) of Bella's past.**

**I'd like to take a moment here to talk about the Connecticut shooting, even though I know it's a little late and everyone else already has. There are no words for this. There was a boy, and his parents, and then there were innocent children. And now they are all gone for reasons that we might never know. What can drive a person to snap, to shoot his own mother and then children, the very personification of everything that is good and bright and innocent in this world? I don't think the answer is something I want to know. All I can say is that I hope wherever those innocent souls are now, they are safe and protected from the horrors of this world. And I hope their parents, in the wake of this nightmare, will find strength, love and support in those around them and that someday, they will be able to move on. If you're the praying kind, then pray for them no matter what your beliefs are because at the end of the day, we are all one and we have suffered a loss.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	17. Sixteen

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Sixteen : Europe**

* * *

"Bella…" Elena hesitates before reaching out to the youngest Salvatore, who's just finished her tale with a sad smile. Bella accepts her supportive hand and grips it securely before offering her family a shrug.

"It's been a long time." She points out. "I've had enough time to get over it." Sure, she's gotten over everything that had happened. She's never really gotten over him though. But it doesn't matter how she feels – he's a monster, a killer, a _liar_. Somehow his lie makes everything else seem alright. She doesn't mind that he's killed people and tortured people and – well, she does mind but she'd accepted him anyway. But to know that he'd lied to her, used her, manipulated her… they will never get another shot because she just can't get over it. Once upon a time, she had loved him more than life itself. And she had sincerely believed that he'd felt the same way.

Damon tries to lighten up the mood, but his words just make it worse. "Wow." He says flatly. "My baby sister was engaged to Klaus. _The _Klaus."

Stefan shoots Damon a glare, prompting him to realize his mistake. "Sorry, Bells." He turns to her with a guilty look on his face. She forces a smile and pats his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, Dae." She looks past her brother's shoulder to the windows, with their curtains pulled back to reveal the dark sky and bright moon.

"Yeah," She muses softly. "It really was something."

She feels Damon tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, drawing her eyes to his.

"Do you want to take a break?" He offers kindly in a hushed murmur. She takes a deep breath, squares her shoulders and smiles.

"I'm fine, Damon." She assures him, gently removing his hand from where it's come to rest on her shoulder. "Thank you." She adds quietly. He nods with a strained smile before they both turn around to Elena and Stefan.

"That was in 1919. I'd spent almost a year with…" She falters.

"Where did you go next?" Stefan helps her out with an encouraging smile and she flashes him a grateful one.

"In our days together, Katherine frequently mentioned a ruling party of Cold Ones in Italy." Her brothers haven't made the connection yet.

"She was deeply curious but had never been able to visit them. You see, even Katherine knew better than to mess with the Volturi."

"Wait," Damon speaks up. "Volturi as in…"

She nods, unwilling to complete his sentence. _Volturi as in _dead _Volturi_. Damon doesn't ask any further questions.

"But after I left, I was much more powerful than I had been. More than Katherine, more than Cold Ones, more than the Volturi."

Elena and Stefan look somewhat skeptical but she isn't insulted by their disbelief; she had been equally suspicious of hosting. But _he _had taken the time to explain it to her and demonstrate.

He had the right idea, it seems, since her brothers and Elena look like they might need a demonstration too. Damon speaks up for the trio.

"Speaking of which, how come we haven't seen your super ninja skills yet, baby sister?" He challenges her, charging at her before she's even had enough time to process his question. She neatly dodges him, side-stepping him before she grabs him by the collar, saving him from running straight into one of their father's precious bookcases.

He gives her a nonchalant shrug. "Okay, so you've got super senses. How strong are you, little one?"

She rolls her eyes. "Do you want me to go outside and uproot a tree?"

Elena's eyes widen. "Can you?" She gasps.

She doesn't answer the girl, choosing instead to lead their little party out. "Come on, it should be dark enough." This is the fastest way to get it over with. Her story telling would go much smoother without Damon's constant jabs.

Damon stares at her incredulously while Stefan gives her an impressed look before they both follow her out into the night. Elena lingers just a few steps behind, unsure of what she is about to witness.

"Go ahead," Damon nods at a tree at the edge of their property. She frowns and shakes her head.

"Not one of ours," She protests and walks into the trees without waiting for a reply. The remaining three share a look before Stefan shrugs as if to say _why not_? and they follow her into the dark woods.

Bella is waiting for them by a tree, older and bigger than the one Damon had picked. She has her arms crossed, waiting patiently for them to come closer. "I'm not gonna throw it at _you_." She clarifies with an eye roll.

Damon smirks as if to show everyone that he's not afraid and steps up right next to her. "A little breathing space, Dae." She requests and he steps back just a bit, standing a short distance away with the others.

Bella draws in a deep breath, flattening her palms against the trunk. Her fingers curl around small ridges that help her get a grip on the tree, the reason why she had picked this one.

And then, without giving herself time to overthink her actions or second-guess her display of power, she wrenches the tree out of the earth, holding it up for two short seconds before she pushes it back into the ground, using enough force to push it deeper than it had been, settling it into the ground.

"Umm…" Damon eyes the tree doubtfully. "I don't think that's safe." Instead of explaining what she had done to secure the tree, she merely picks it up and lies it down on the ground before turning around to her brother.

"Satisfied?"

All three nod silently.

She smiles before dusting her hands off and wiping her palms on her jeans. "Show's over. Let's get in, I'm freezing." She promptly starts walking back towards the bright and welcoming porch light which serves as a beacon, leaving the others to fall in line behind her.

They return to the Boarding House and settle down in the sitting room once again. Three pairs of eyes watch Bella as they wait for the rest of her tale.

"So… the Volturi?" Damon prompts her.

She nods resolutely and begins to tell them everything… well, everything that she can tell them and everything that they need to know.

"Following my departure from London," She refers to it vaguely, knowing that they won't need any clarification now. "I became… different. I was hurt, and I was done. I had lost my family, I had lost Katherine, I had lost _everyone_. Clearly happiness was not in the cards for me, so I settled for power."

"I left London in 1919 and showed up in Italy almost ten years later. In between those lost years…" She hesitates and buries her face in her hands, shoulders hunched in remorse. Drawing a shaky breath, she ponders the best way to tell her story.

"By the time I showed up at the Volturi's front step, they were well acquainted with my reputation and had been expecting me."

Stefan eyes her intently until she returns his gaze.

"Bella, it's okay." He assures her supportively, understandingly… knowingly. Between the three Salvatores, they've done some unspeakable things and Stefan wants her to keep that in mind, as if to tell her that they've seen it all and done it all, and she couldn't possibly have done anything worse.

But she did. She did do something worse. Far, far worse than anything her brothers have ever even _thought_ about.

"After I left," She speaks softly, as if her indiscretions mustn't be voiced out loud. "I changed." Her eyes flit from Stefan to Damon, Damon to Stefan, and then Elena, before settling on her hands as she wrings them together.

"You have to understand, I-" No, she cannot make excuses for her behavior. There are no excuses to be made and she does not deserve to be excused. This is her punishment, her burden to bear. Everyone – even the ones she loves the most – must know the truth, the extent of her inner monster. And if they choose to judge her for it, to abandon her… then that will be another part of her punishment.

"I was dead inside. Dead, cold, hollow. There wasn't a bone in my body that believed in love or joy or all things bright and good, and there wasn't a single cell in my body that did not yearn to make everyone else just as miserable. And the only way I knew how…" Her eyes shut of their own accord; once more, her hands cover her remorseful features. Her voice fails her as she admits to her darkest moments but her brothers' heightened senses do not allow them to miss her confession.

"The only way I knew how to make them hurt the way I did… was to take away their loved ones."

Her brothers' eyes widen as they see their little sister in a new light, one that isn't favorable. Elena silently observes the brothers' reactions, completely out of the loop as she hadn't been able to hear Bella's pained admission. She does not ask for the raven-haired vampire, who is obviously in great distress, to repeat her words. It seems cruel somehow.

Bella, with hunched shoulders and obscured features, begins shaking. Damon leans towards her, fearing the worst; he hasn't been able to purge the image of her shaking and trembling in the storm. But just as he's about to speak up, a muffled sob escapes the confines of her palm, the one she has pressed over her mouth.

His eyes fill with pain. "Bella." He sighs brokenly, reaching for his sister. She remains curled up in a ball even as he lifts her up and places her on his lap, enclosing her in an embrace. "Shh," He soothes her, running a hand down her back repeatedly. "Shh, baby Bella."

The silly nickname he'd found so amusing as a child falls naturally from his lips as he is brought back to simpler yet worse times, days when it seemed as if their family would not survive the loss of its angel. In the days following their mother's death, Bella had sobbed continuously, not even in her usual obnoxious wailing way. She would curl up into a ball and muffle her sobs, this tiny child who did not want to be a nuisance. Damon's heart broke each time he found her hiding in their mother's dresser, and he would lift her into his small eight-year-old frame and cradle her, humming the French lullabies their mother would often sing every night.

Bella remains curled up, blocking out the outside world as Damon gently pries her hands away from her face, combing back her wild hair that had hidden her from view. "Bella," He tries again, finally succeeding in removing her hands and holding them down with one of his own as the other wipes away her tears.

"I killed them, Dae." She rasps, tears still trailing a path down her cheeks as her lips quiver. "I killed _innocents_." She buries her face in the front of his shirt, seemingly unable to come to terms with her past mistakes. He wonders just how hard she's worked to block them out for the past few decades, and how successful she had been, up until today when it had all caught up to her.

Every comforting sentiment he wants to share with her is a lie, and he can't lie to his sister, not when she is distraught and broken. So he settles for an almost-comforting truth. "It's okay now, Bella. Everything is okay now." Now. Now that she's home. Now that she has them. Now that she's changed… he knows she has. She's changed _back_.

He wants to tell her more than that, but he can't tell her anything else without lying. He can't even tell her that everything _will _be okay because he has no idea what the future holds, not with his fragile, haunted sister leading an army to war. Holding her to his chest, he rests his chin on top of her head and catches Stefan's attention.

_What now_?, he mouths, careful not to jostle the girl in his arms.

Stefan shrugs almost casually even though Damon sees through him immediately, his pained eyes – so much like Bella's – giving him away. Elena sits beside him, her brown eyes swimming with concern. As Bella calms down in his arms, slowly stopping her sobs bar the occasional sniffle, Elena rises and disappears from the room. He and Stefan follow her retreating form curiously but neither make any move to trail after her.

Elena re-enters the room just as Bella pulls away from the relative safety of his shirt, giving him a small, sheepish smile. "Sorry." She whispers in a dry voice, wiping away the last of her tears.

"You owe me a shirt." Damon makes light of the situation, pointing out his tear-soaked outfit. "This is John Varvatos, Bells."

Stefan chuckles at the inside joke, drawing Bella's attention as she climbs out of Damon's lap and wraps her arms around her other brother. Stefan returns the hug, holding her tightly. Finally, she pulls back and looks at her brothers.

"I'm sorry," She apologizes for her sudden breakdown. "It's just… I kind of turned it off after all that happened and…" They know what she's talking about. Her humanity. She had turned off her humanity.

Both Salvatore brothers are familiar with the concept and have experienced it. Damon goes around telling everyone to turn it off when things get rough. Stefan believes that you just have to fight back and get through it. But even he understands why Bella would do such a thing; he just doesn't like it. The thought of his sister, so broken and bitter that she would massacre innocents, and then so empty and cold because of her guilt… he's almost glad he hadn't found her then.

"Don't worry about it, Bells." Damon assures her just as Elena steps forward, producing a glass of water.

"Here," She hands it over to Bella with a small smile. Bella accepts the glass gratefully, thanking Elena before she takes big sips out of the water, soothing her throat. Everyone just stands, unsure of how to proceed. Finally, Bella sets down the glass and wrings her hands before stepping closer to the fireplace, watching the fire as she talks, keeping her back to her brothers. It's easier that way.

"I earned a reputation for being cold and ruthless. A killer, one more proficient and devastating that your average vampire. But what the Volturi was really interested in were the rumors of my powers." She doesn't elaborate, hoping that her brothers will just assume she's talking about her physical strength. With the impending war, she doesn't need anyone to know about her heightened vampire powers. Sure, Damon messes with the weather every once in a while, but she's only seen him do it once since her return, because weather control is draining for anyone who's not a witch. So are many other abilities, abilities that she had gained due to the hosting ritual.

"After seven years of hurting everyone," Her voice shakes as she struggles to just keep going. "I woke up one day and was a complete mess. I'd," She gulps; her brothers know what she did but they're only accepting a vague story. What happens once she fills in the details?"

"I'd killed someone's brother on the anniversary of your deaths." She remains where she is, avoiding her brothers. Her head is bowed and her shoulders are hunched as she details that horrible morning.

"The pain that I had felt on that day in 1864 had never really gone away; it just liked to hide for a year and then come out on that day and destroy me. And that year I realized that I'd caused someone else that exact same pain; had caused a lot of people that kind of pain. I felt horrible, worse than Katherine, worse than anyone I knew. Even monsters don't kill for the sake of it and I had, just because I'd gone completely crazy. I didn't want to be that person anymore, the one who killed for sport."

"I wanted to be Bella, the human girl I used to be. But all that I could do as her was sit in a dark room and cry, day in and day out. All I did was cry, for my family and my friends and my victims. And I couldn't keep that up much longer. I couldn't be her anymore. So…" She hesitates, ashamed that she had taken the easy way out – the coward's way. It had been too hard to deal with the repercussions of her sins and so she just hadn't. After everything she had done to those poor souls, the least they had deserved was for her to face her ghosts and let them haunt her. She hadn't even given them that.

"I turned it off. I flipped a switch and I stopped feeling, stopped thinking. And that is how I ended up in Italy. I had no emotions, no fear… all I knew was that I was powerful and fearless, and that I inspired fear in the hearts of others. I was confident and self-assured, and I knew they wouldn't kill me."

She smiles, just a small smile at the thought of her time with the Volturi. They had treated her like family; they had _made _her their family. Not that she's ever going to tell anyone that, of course; being the last Volturi is a liability more than anything right now.

"I stayed with the Volturi for nearly two decades." She reveals to everyone's surprise. They hadn't expected her to have been so well acquainted with the recently murdered ruling party. "Aro instilled a strong sense of scientific curiosity in me, one that meshed well with the curiosity I had always had." Her brothers smile at the reminder; Bella had been a very curious child, always eager to understand the exact mechanics of everything. "Jane became a close friend, one who did not require the usual affectionate, touchy-feely dynamics of a friendship to appreciate me. I was a shell of myself and she was uncomfortable and unfamiliar with enthusiasm and emotion, so we made a good pair. The rest of them were good friends, too."

That's all she can tell them for now, and she hopes they won't pick up on how little she's actually revealed. Yes, she has told them her deepest, darkest secret – her time in London. But her time with the Volturi and all that she had learned there must be kept secret if they're going to win this war. She moves on to the last leg of her journey, the one that had led her back home.

"After seventeen years, I said goodbye and left the castle. I didn't want to – I felt safe and protected and welcome there – but I knew that it had been long enough and I couldn't just switch it off forever. I had to deal with my humanity, my past, my mistakes and the Volturi… they weren't the kind to be plagued by guilt or to feel responsible. They were good for me when I had needed a distraction but they would not help me heal."

"No, for that to happen, I had to journey all across the Old Continent the way I had originally intended to. Italy, France, Greece… the old countries did me much good. I spent nearly two years in Cyprus alone." She smiles softly, thinking of days spent with strangers, simple people who were happy and content with family and health and love.

"On my way home, I made one last stop."

She pauses, thinking of the conflict she had faced. She'd almost gone back to London – _almost_. But she had known that he controlled the city, if not the entire country. And even though there was a small part of her that refused to accept what she had heard, that deemed the entire night a misunderstanding, she believed that he really was using her because after years of being alone, thinking of and reliving past memories, she had realized that he had fallen too fast and too deeply in love with her for it to have been real.

And so she had gone to Bulgaria.

"I only stayed for two days," She admits. "After everything that had happened, first with you two and then with… in London," She corrects herself, stumbling over her words. "My memory of Katherine was more tainted than ever. But I was making peace with myself, and I had to make peace with the memory of her too." Elena nods understandingly while Stefan and Damon remain silent, absorbing everything their little sister has said.

Bella exhales in relief. "And that's that." She announces, turning around with a small smile on her face. "After that, I came home. Just at the right time, too. The '60s was when things _really _started getting fun."

Elena wonders if she'll ever tell them about everything else, the things that had happened after her return. But she knows Bella has done a lot and seen even more, and just like Stefan and Damon, she'll regard it all as just another part of her life, not a treasure chest of stories worth telling.

Bella settles down in the armchair she had occupied earlier this evening and meets her brothers' questioning looks.

"Bells, we know you've been through a lot and that's horrible," Damon tries to be as sensitive as possible, thinking of his sister's breakdown; he never wants to see her like that again. "But what does this have to do with the war? Why are you leading? How the hell are we going to win?"

"Good questions, Dae." His sister answers evasively, earning herself a displeased, demanding look from both brothers as Elena watches on curiously.

She sighs. There's no getting around it now. She braces herself and gets straight to the point.

"Klaus," She manages to spit out his name without any visible struggle. "He's leading the army, right? He knows that there are a lot of vampires who won't just submit to his authority, but he isn't particularly worried about them. He's indestructible and nothing can stop him." Not exactly true, but this is one of those things she'd discovered with Aro that she can't tell her brothers just yet. "All he wants to do now is to tie up loose ends."

"And you're a loose end." Stefan states somewhat reluctantly once he catches on. Bella nods.

"I was the first outsider to be included in the hosting ritual. I'm still the only one, as far as I know. I'm practically his equal – but only in power and strength. He literally can't be killed, not with daggers or stakes or fire."

Damon cuts her off before she can get to the rest of her explanation. "And this is the guy we're going up against?"

She scowls. "I was getting to that." Damon nods and motions for her to go on.

"There are no ways to kill him," She admits. "But there are ways to… subdue him. He's indestructible but that's not to say that we can't knock him into a supernatural coma and lock him up somewhere." She's not going with this option but her brothers don't need to know that for now. One way or another, he'll be dealt with.

Damon looks intrigued while Stefan and Elena seem to have thought about her plan. "How sure are we that he'll stay under?" Stefan asks, concerned. "And where can we keep him?"

She shrugs, maintaining a casual front. "Oh, he'll stay under. And we can dump his body in the Atlantic."

"Careful there, Bella." Damon cautions with a smirk, finally easing up on the whole this-is-war thing. "Wouldn't wanna sound like a scorned ex."

She forces herself to laugh and treat his words as the joke he had intended them to be, not a somewhat-true statement. Stefan and Elena smile nervously at first but they're put at ease by her seemingly cheerful demeanor.

"So we're fine, right?" She double-checks. "You guys know everything now and you know what's in store." Her smile hardens into a grim line. "There will be a war, and I know you won't let me send you away." Stefan and Damon nod in agreement; there's no way in Hell that would they leave their sister this way.

Bella smiles sadly, as if she's resigned to her brothers' stubbornness. "I'll need to teach you how to fight. Specific techniques, which ones to take out." She lists, drawing a game plan in her mind. "We'll have to round up willing fighters. Cold Ones, our kind, witches, werewolves," Damon interrupts her when she brings up werewolves.

"They're our natural enemies, Bella." He frowns. "There's no way they'll work with us."

"Not with us," Bella corrects. "Just… against him. I figure it won't hurt to just ask, right?" Damon nods reluctantly.

They lapse into silence as each is left with their own thoughts or tries to deal with the influx of information Bella has provided. Finally, Stefan speaks up.

"So… what now?"

Bella gets to her feet with a smile and stretches her sore limbs. "Now," She announces with a momentary pause. "We get some sleep."

Damon begins to protest but she cuts him off.

"The next few days are going to be a whirlwind of training, practice, studying – you need to know your enemies – and recruiting fighters. This could very well be our last opportunity to have a peaceful night and I, for one, intend to appreciate that."

Everyone begins to nod in agreement, albeit reluctantly, and they get up, ready to call it a night. Bella grins.

"Besides, tomorrow's my birthday."

* * *

**I read somewhere that Damon was 23, 24 when he was turned. Stefan was 17. Bella is less than a year younger than Stefan. Here, Damon is somewhere in between 23 and 24, Stefan was a few weeks shy of turning 18 and Bella was just a few days away from her 17****th**** birthday. Their mother passed when Damon was around the age of 8, Stefan was 3 and Bella was 2. Hopefully I've kept everything straight.**

**I'm pretty sure this story won't exceed 25 chapters in total. The original had 22, including the prologue and epilogue. This is chapter sixteen and we're quickly approaching the main plot, after which things will pretty much wind down and end quite abruptly. Assuming that we actually cover another seven chapters, that would put us at 23, and then 25 with the prologue and epilogue. I'm not sure we need another seven chapters but we probably won't go any higher on the chapter count.**

**As usual, feedback is **_**the best**_** plus you can leave Christmas special requests! I'm writing for a number of fandoms, so don't be shy to just suggest a ship or fandom and if I'm familiar with it, you just might get a Christmas present from a fangirl stranger. Oh, and thank you once more to those who reviewed, subscribed, added this to your favorites/alerts.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	18. Seventeen

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Seventeen : Birthday**

* * *

"_I'm coming for you, love."_

Bella's eyes snap open as she bolts upright with a strangled gasp, struggling to catch her breath. Pressing one hand to her heart, she brings the other to her face to cover her eyes, blocking out the blinding sunlight as she tries to quell the nauseous feeling that threatens to send her running for the bathroom.

She can't… she can barely stomach the thought of him and yet her mind insists on presenting him in all of his fleshed out, living, breathing glory each night, having him star in all of her dreams. Well, nightmares. Seeing him, hearing him, _feeling_ him – it's enough to make her sick to her stomach.

This is not how she had planned to wake up on her birthday.

* * *

"Hello?" Damon opens the door, peering inside his sister's room.

"Good morning." Bella smiles slightly, walking out of the en suite. Damon pushes the door so that it's fully open and walks in, noting his sister's subdued state. Today's her day and yet she seems completely down and tired, as if she's not in the mood to celebrate. He'll just have to fix that, then.

"Happy birthday, grandma." He jokes, referring to her extended age. "Or is it great-grandma by now?"

"You're one to speak, big brother." Bella glares at him but walks into his open arms anyway, allowing her brother to hug her for all of five seconds before she steps back. Damon studies her with concerned eyes.

"Everything okay, birthday girl? No offense," He holds up both hands as if to ward off any negative reaction. "But you don't look so good."

Bella wears a strained smile and turns away from her brother's observant eyes, busying herself with the task of picking out a change of clothes. "I'm fine," She shrugs, pulling a dress out of her closet. The early summer days have been growing warmer and the Boarding House doesn't exactly offer top-notch air conditioning. Maybe they should look into that.

Turning around, she offers Damon another forced smile. "Just didn't sleep well." She leaves it at that. Her brother looks at her for a little too long, letting her know that he doesn't buy her excuse. He's about to press on and question her when he catches another glimpse of her tired eyes and decides to leave her alone for now.

"Today feels like a jeans day, don't you think?" He says instead, offering her a cryptic smile. She stares at him, puzzled.

"I'm just saying." Damon shrugs, sticking around just long enough to see his sister grudgingly trade her dress for a pair of jeans before he leaves her with an invitation for breakfast. She'll thank him later when she doesn't get dirt all over her pretty dress.

* * *

Bella walks out of her room a few minutes later, smoothing down her tank top. She runs into Elena as they both descend the stairs, the brunette dressed in what looks to be a nice, loose summer dress.

"Happy birthday!" Elena grins, reaching out enthusiastically. Bella allows herself to be wrapped up in the slightly smaller girl's arms, her first genuine smile of the morning gracing her lips. She can't get over how tough and accepting Elena is. She had honestly expected the girl to be uncomfortable or even a little distant around her after hearing about her dark past last night, but here she is, Elena Gilbert, smiling and welcoming as usual.

"Thanks." She steps out of their hug and they both descend the stairs, walking closely together. "So, any idea what my brothers are up to? Damon made me wear jeans." She points out, earning herself a laugh and a tight-lipped smile.

"It's a surprise." Elena whispers conspiratorially, her eyes twinkling. Bella pouts as they reach the foot of the stairs, heading for the kitchen.

"In other words, you're not going to tell." She sighs, wondering just what her brothers are up to. Sure, she's all for spending the day with her family and bonding with them and having fun, but there's also a war to think about. And the town's probably got some Fourth of July celebrations going on. She wonders if she can convince everyone to just forget her birthday and join their fellow Americans in celebrating.

Damon catches the tail end of their conversation and adds his own bit in. "Not if she knows what's best for her." He shoots Elena a barely-veiled, half-hearted threat with a charming smile. Elena ignores him and heads for Stefan, asking if there's anything she can help with. He asks her to keep an eye on whatever it is he's got in the pan, throwing in some joke about burning down the house before he turns to his sister.

"Happy birthday," He smiles, reaching out for a hug just like Damon and Elena. Bella finds that she doesn't quite mind; they're comforting, these hugs.

"Thanks." She musters up another smile to acknowledge her brother's greeting. He nods before getting back to work, sending Elena to sit down with Bella. The girls slip into barstools and Bella rests her elbows on the kitchen isle, resting her hands just under her chin.

"What are you guys doing?" She asks with a hint of amusement, watching as her brothers move around the kitchen.

"Breakfast, duh." Damon rolls his eyes.

"Since when do you two make breakfast?" She challenges as Stefan sets down a plate in front of her.

"Since it's your birthday," He smiles before turning around to retrieve more plates. Bella catches his eyes and smiles before looking down at her plate to discover a stereotypical happy-family pancake, the kind with a syrup-and-fruit smiley drawn on it. She laughs and so does Elena when she turns around to look at what it is that has Bella so amused.

Stefan sits down in front of them, his lips quirked up into a grin. "What?" He defends his culinary masterpiece as Damon sits down next to him. "It's my baby sister's birthday."

She shakes her head in amusement before giving her brothers a warm smile. "Thanks, you guys. This is nice." She refers to a normal birthday breakfast, something she hasn't had since 1863.

Damon speaks up before Stefan can acknowledge her. "Oh, this is entirely on Stefan." He sets her straight. "My birthday surprise isn't of the Kodak moment variety." He smirks. Bella considers a witty retort of some sort but this is a bit of a snapshot moment, she supposes. Happy family, smiling pancakes, sunlight streaming in through the kitchen windows. It's nice and idyllic, and it's exactly the kind of day she needs just before throwing herself into war mode.

"I suppose it'll be more like something from an MTV documentary on spoiled birthday children and an excess of wealth." She comments nonchalantly as she sets about deconstructing her smiley pancake.

She looks up a few seconds later, expecting a familiar Damon-smirk and some witty retort. She's greeted by a peculiar look in his eyes and a small, genuine smile instead.

"No," Damon tells her, evading eye contact.

"Nothing like that."

She keeps her eyes on her brother as he turns his focus to his breakfast, steadfastly avoiding her. Finally, she frowns slightly before shrugging it off and turning to her own breakfast.

Damon is full of surprises.

* * *

"Wow," Bella speaks up as they walk past rows and rows of concrete plots. She'd quickly deduced that they'd be coming here after her brothers had invited her out on a walk that had taken them on a familiar journey, but it still takes her by surprise, just a tiny bit. She hasn't been back here in a long time, and she tells them so.

"We haven't been here in a while either." Damon tells her while Stefan looks uncomfortable and she wonders if they have graves here; if _she _has a grave here. Her brothers lead her to the Salvatore mausoleum and she gets an answer.

As they stop in front of three similar headstones, the boys stand just behind her, allowing her a moment to take in the sight that she's been confronted with. She focuses on the two slightly more prominent slabs of cement first. Noticing her line of sight, Stefan speaks up.

"Father… he convinced everyone that we died heroes that night."

She nods curtly; she knows what he's talking about. She knows that she should've expected this. She knows that it makes no difference, that her brothers are here with her. But she can't tear her eyes away from the names etched in stone.

_**In loving memory of**_

_**Damon Salvatore**_

_**Beloved brother and son.**_

_**1841 – 1864**_

_**In loving memory of**_

_**Stefan Salvatore**_

_**Beloved brother and son.**_

_**1846 – 1864**_

And there, resting next to her brothers for eternity, is the empty spot where her body should be.

_**In loving memory of**_

_**Isabella Salvatore**_

_**Beloved sister and daughter.**_

_**1847 – 1864**_

This is the first time she's seen it, the first time she's had any tangible proof of the fact that she should be dead now, that her continued existence is unnatural. She can't deal with her mortality right now, not unless she wants to break down in front of her brothers and sob in front of her own grave, so she pushes past her brothers and heads for the spot where she knows she'll find her parents.

She finds her father's first, the one she's never seen, the one she can tell is slightly newer than its other half. It's grand, the grave of the last great Salvatore. She notes coldly that it befits him and wonders why she can't feel anything more.

_**Here lies**_

_**Giuseppe Salvatore**_

_**Beloved father, husband, brother and son.**_

_**1811 – 1864**_

She knows how he died, when he died, why he died, where he died. She knows everything about her father's death and yet she doesn't care. She wonders if she should, if maybe she should resent Stefan just a tiny bit. She wonders if Damon does. And then she decides to just sink to the ground by the familiar slab of concrete she's been visiting since the year she turned seven.

_**Here lies**_

_**Amelie Salvatore**_

_**Beloved mother, wife and daughter.**_

_**1820 – 1849**_

"Hello, Mama." She rasps, her throat dry and constricted, running one hand over the smooth, cool surface of her mother's final resting place. She curls up in the same spot she used to as a child and a young girl, when she had escaped long afternoons by running here and pouring her heart out to her mother. Her eyes drift shut and don't open even as she hears her brothers approaching. She just needs one moment, one quiet moment alone with her mother, for old times' sake.

A hand settles on her shoulder and she reluctantly opens her eyes to find her brothers looking somber. Damon is the one who's standing next to her, one hand on her shoulder and the other firmly holding a wooden box of sorts. Curiosity gets the best of her as she breaks the silence.

"What's that?" She questions, her voice a little rough.

Damon smiles slightly – it doesn't reach his eyes – and hands her the box. "Happy birthday, Bells."

She rests the box on her lap and looks up at Damon, then Stefan, who cracks a tiny, sad smile before both of her brothers walk away. She almost gets up to go after them when the box shifts in her lap, drawing her attention.

With shaking hands, she pries open the lid of the elaborately carved box, revealing a simple hollowed square filled with pictures, notes, trinkets and small pieces of jewelry.

On a yellowed card that she gingerly picks up, honestly afraid that it might disintegrate at any second, she makes out beautiful calligraphy.

'_To my beautiful Bella_,' it says, _'Love, Mama_.'

She brings the card closer as tears spring to her eyes. Slowly, she brings the card to her nose. Miraculously, her mother's perfume remains on this precious stationary. Consumed by irrational fear, she quickly returns the card to its rightful spot before shutting the box.

She doesn't want to lose her mother, not even a tiny piece.

Looking up into the outside world, she spies her brothers standing a short distance away, holding a conversation as Damon leans against some poor soul's grave marker.

This is his gift, she realizes. This is something he's kept all these years just for her, and this is something that he's letting her keep to herself.

She wants to share it – all that's left of her mother.

Damon looks up from his conversation with Stefan, probably feeling her eyes on him. Stefan turns and follows his line of sight, leading both of them to Bella, who is waving them over with glassy eyes and a small smile. They comply and walk back to where she is, sitting down on either side of her.

"Thank you." She says fervently, still looking at the box. Out of the periphery of her vision, she sees Damon nod before reaching a cautious hand into the box, retrieving a ring.

It's an emerald, a deep, dark one that looks almost luminous. In a way, it reminds Bella of her mother's eyes, although hers had been lighter, the same ones she and Stefan inherited. The heavy, oval stone is set into a delicate, fragile-looking rose gold setting with a thin band.

"It was hers." Damon reminisces as he balances the ring in his palm, letting the light hit the green centerpiece. "When she was a girl. Before she came here, before she married Father, this was the prettiest thing Mother owned. She said that it was from her mother, who got it from her mother before her, and so on, and that one day, while Stefan and I inherited Father's _horrible little weapons_," He grins, quoting their mother's distaste for arms. "This is what she wanted you to have."

Bella considers poking fun at the notion that she wouldn't have inherited any of her father's guns, but she finds herself watching silently as Damon gently drops the ring into her hands.

"She wanted you to have it." He states clearly, waiting for some form of acknowledgement on Bella's side. She doesn't take her eyes off the ring; can't, now that she's starting to see images of her mother wearing it. Finally, she nods.

They lapse into silence, the last three Salvatores huddled together quietly, and spend the rest of the afternoon in the mausoleum they should have been buried in a hundred years ago.

* * *

"What are our chances, Bella?"

The three siblings have been situated on the very top of Mystic Falls for an hour now, waiting for the sun to set. They converse occasionally, mostly when her brothers think of some war-related question to ask Bella. This last one has her thinking fast.

Stefan turns to her after a moment's wait, joining Damon as they watch her come up with an answer. Damon frowns when she takes longer than usual to answer him.

"Are we going to die, Bells?" He presses for a conclusive answer.

"What? No!" Bella cries immediately, breaking her silence. "I was just calculating the odds." She manages to sound somewhat convincing.

"Damn," Damon turns to Stefan, ignoring her. "Time to start working on that karma thing, brother."

"Forget it," Stefan dismisses the notion, looking surprisingly down for a guy who's always been glass half-full. "We're both burning in Hell."

"Hey, you're the one who killed innocent bunnies. I've still got a shot." Damon protests with a grin, trying to set them back on track. He shouldn't have asked Bella about their odds. War isn't something you can plan and victory is never a sure chance. He should know that better than anyone.

"Stop it, you guys." Bella whines. "I don't even want to think about the nice piece of land I've got down there."

Damon gives her his best serious look. "Do you want to sell? I was looking at some but they went to a lawyer, another lawyer and a psychopath."

"Sorry," Bella bursts out laughing and struggles to string together an answer. "I've got some politician on my waiting list."

Stefan rolls his eyes, opting to stay out of his siblings' afterlife stereotyping. They fall silent once more as the sun finally sets, setting the sky ablaze in brilliant streaks of orange and red. Darkness soon follows and still they remain on their backs, watching the last beams of light disappear.

"So, Bells – hundred and sixty four." Damon gets to his feet, dusting his hands off on his jeans before offering one to Bella.

"Yeah. It shows, huh?" She grins as Stefan gets up too and they start to make their way home.

"Nah," Damon smiles. "I was just about to ask you for beauty secrets." Stefan laughs as Bella curtsies courteously.

"Why, thank you. But no, there's nothing. Sorry to disappoint, buddy." She pats him on the shoulder, as though comforting her brother.

"I say it's the bunny blood." Damon muses out loud. Bella realizes that he _has _been paying attention to her feeding habits, after all. "Even Stefan looks radiant these days."

"Funny, Damon." Stefan deadpans with a contradictory smile.

"I try, brother." Damon smirks.

Bella takes advantage of her brothers' distraction to act like a teenager.

"Race you home!" She announces before taking off, leaving her brothers momentarily stunned while she gains a head start.

"Cheater!" Stefan accuses as the siblings zip through the darkness, easily swerving and avoiding trees and fallen branches. It takes them less than ten minutes to stumble upon the Boarding House as Bella screeches to a halt, having almost missed it.

"It's dark." She states under her breath, her mind rapidly going through a thousand scenarios. They can't be here yet; it's too early. She discreetly inhales some of the surrounding air; no, she can't smell them.

"Yeah," Damon comes up behind her. "We were gone all day, Bells. I'm pretty sure Elena didn't hang around just to turn on the lights."

Stefan stands on her other side and nods. "She hasn't been here either."

"Oh," Bella says flatly, feeling foolish. There's a thin line between being cautious and being paranoid and it looks like she's just crossed from one to the other. "Okay."

"Come on," Damon smirks, amused at his sister's caution. "Let's get inside."

Bella lets her brothers lead her inside, closing the door behind her as she watches her brother walk past the kitchen. Odd, since Damon had talked about dinner on their way home. Stefan stops when he notices that she's not behind them.

"Coming, Bella?"

She nods and follows them as they walk through the hall, bypassing every single room before heading to the very back of the house. Bella soon figures out that they're heading for the backyard… where she can hear a multitude of human hearts beating.

_Oh_.

Everything falls into place just as Stefan and Damon lead her out into the open, where the entire clearing has been plunged into darkness. Elena's suspicious behavior in the days leading up to today, her brothers getting her out of the house and keeping her away all day, coming home to an empty home…

Thousands of fairy lights illuminate the clearing as a chorus of voices greets her.

"Happy birthday, Bella!"

It's a surprise party.

It's the sweetest thing anyone's done for her in a long time.

* * *

**Don't you just love birthdays? Well, guess who else loves birthdays. Yeah, we'll be seeing him soon… In the meantime, expect some unexpected guests next chapter. Regarding the tombstones, you might notice that the math makes Stefan 18 and Bella 17. They were, in fact, weeks and days away from their 18****th**** and 17****th**** birthdays, respectively, so… yeah. And if anyone's interested – I'm not usually the kind to post pictures but here's something I found while Googling antique emerald rings and how I picture Bella's ring. As usual, just deal with the spaces.**

**media-cache-ec3 . pinterest upload / 234609461808035199 _ 3wjZCHz0 _ b . jpg**

**This one's a little late. Sorry, guys. I spent most of my writing time in a daze, staring blankly at my empty Word document while I mourned **_**Gossip Girl**_**. Though the show had, in recent years, been bumped down from my list of favorites to **_**dying shows that I watch out of some misguided notion of loyalty**_**, that finale made me realize that I'm going to miss the NJBC and their friends after all.**

**Review? We can talk about this chapter, or the story, or the show, or if you happen to watch **_**GG**_**, you and I can mourn the loss of our show together.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	19. Eighteen

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Eighteen : Unexpected**

* * *

"Wow." Bella looks around as the guests start to disperse, mingling and helping themselves to the buffet. Her feet carry her forward and she wraps her arms around a beaming Elena.

"Thank you." She smiles, pulling away after a few moments. Elena responds with a smile of her own.

"I'm just glad you like it." She bites on her bottom lip, looking nervous. "After yesterday, we weren't sure if you would want this…" She waves at the general direction of the lively party. Bella shakes her head, smiling reassuringly.

"No, it's perfect, Elena." She takes in the young teenagers, laughing and smiling away their worries. "It's just what I needed." She concludes.

"Good." Elena nods. "Now go," She nudges Bella's shoulder, sending her off with an encouraging smile. "Mingle, have fun, make friends."

The brunette is gone before Bella can even think to form a protest, leaving her standing awkwardly in the middle of a crowd at her own birthday party. She wants to enjoy tonight, she really does, but she sees vaguely familiar faces and identical decorations and they're standing in the exact same clearing and before she knows it, she's thinking about Katherine and her little visit.

She hasn't given Katherine much thought since the day after her visit; hasn't had much time to, what with everything that's been going on and the thoughts that she's trying so hard _not _to think of. But now, lost in a sea of laughing, smiling faces, a horrible thought occurs to her.

What if… what if Katherine sides with _him_? She's Katerina Petrova, she looks out for herself. It's well known and commonly accepted that Katherine only does what's best for her and if he offers her a deal after centuries of running, there is no doubt in Bella's mind that her Kathy, the one who longs to be free once more, would take it.

She can't take down Katherine.

Well, not physically. Physically, she would be able to take down an army of Katherines. But could she stand before Katherine and rip out her heart without hesitation? Could she lose her all over again? Bella knows what it is she has to do, to win this war and save their kind. She knows who she has to kill, what she has to lose. And that's enough for her as it is – enough danger, enough loss, enough heartbreak.

But if Katherine returns, if Katherine remembers, if Katherine _betrays _them by siding with the enemy… then she'll have no choice but to dispose of her, for her brothers' sake. She won't be around to take care of them and keep Katherine away after the battle. She won't be around to keep Stefan with Elena and to show Damon the truth. She won't be around to control Katherine, so she'll simply have to take her down first. And then, if all goes as planned, she'll join Katherine… dragging the big, bad hybrid himself down to Hell with her.

On this note, she decides to pull herself out of her dark thoughts and enjoy the time she has left. Caroline Forbes, a new friend of hers, proves to have perfect timing as she comes up to Bella, excitedly tugging at her hand.

"Bella!" Caroline squeals in that enthusiastic way of hers, engulfing the vampire in a hug. "Happy birthday!" Bella hesitantly wraps her arms around Caroline's in return, still somewhat taken aback by the energetic girl. She takes some getting used to, that's for sure.

"Thanks," She smiles, pulling away from Caroline's hold. The blonde maintains a hold on Bella's left hand, towing her along as she takes off. "Care," Bella slows them down. "What are you doing?"

"It's cake time," Her friend announces without even sparing her a glance, determinedly going ahead. "You're going to _love _what we got you." She promises and Bella winces, dreading the thought of a frosted pink monstrosity. Perhaps it won't be that bad, though. She _did _say 'we'. Besides, Caroline has taste and she would not have settled for anything less than something pretty, at the very least.

Oh, and it _is _pretty, the cake Caroline has led her to. Four square-shaped tiers of royal icing and emerald swirls, fleurs-de-lis piped on all sixteen sides of the cake.

Caroline quickly flits off, mumbling something about candles under her breath as Elena comes to stand next to her with a knowing smile.

"Not what you were expecting, is it?"

Bella turns to the girl with a smile of her own. "No," She admits sheepishly. "Not at all."

Damon appears to her left. "We figured you'd probably grown out of Barbie cakes after the half century or so." He shrugs nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on the cake.

Bella's smile grows wider as she playfully bumps Damon's shoulder before turning to Elena and thanking her. Elena writes it off as 'no big deal' and finally plays the same card Bella herself has used to get away with a lot of nice gestures these past few weeks.

"Besides, we're family." She mimics the youngest Salvatore, linking them together in such a manner for the very first time. Bella smiles brightly and throws one hand around his brother's girlfriend, pulling her close with an affectionate squeeze on her shoulder.

"My two favorite girls getting along." Stefan joins the group, smiling at the sight of his sister and Elena standing together. "I hate to separate you," He holds out a hand for Bella. "But you're up, Bells."

The partygoers have gathered around them in a wide circle, seemingly ready to burst out into song at any given second. Caroline appears once more to position Bella just next to the cake before holding up three fingers to the relatively-silent crowd. She counts down wordlessly; two fingers, then one. Everyone starts their own rendition of _Happy Birthday_, with a group of intoxicated teenagers in the outer ring of the circle singing more loudly and off-key than any of the other guests.

Finally, the song comes to an end and Elena leads the crowd in urging Bella to make a wish. Bella acquiesces, as is expected of her, and leans in closer to the cake with its seventeen lit candles on the very top, allowing her eyelids to flutter shut as she tries to articulate the only wish she has.

_I wish my family-_

And then she senses them.

She can smell them in the air and hear the barely-there sound of their feet thudding against the soft ground repeatedly. She can _feel _them.

Anxious and taken aback, Bella's eyes snap open as she huffs, blowing out the candles in one exhale. She stands and smiles for all of thirty seconds as strangers cheer and she is offered a knife to make the first cut. Elena and Caroline walk up to her and she hands Elena the knife as the girls start divvying up slices of the sugary treat.

She turns on her heel and stalks back into the house, cursing her party crashers under her breath, using every expletive in the English language and then some.

Her brothers are, predictably, hot on her heels, trailing her as she pulls the backdoor open with enough force to crash it into a brick wall.

"Bella!"

She ignores Damon – actually, she doesn't even hear him. Bella is hell-bent on getting to them before they can come anywhere near her guests. She doesn't want anyone seeing them in town or worse, in her home, lest one of those fun-loving drunk teenagers turns out to be a spy. The last thing she needs is for word that she's building an army to get back to him.

What the hell are the Cullens thinking, anyway? Besides, aren't they the very image of an all-American family? Camping trips, baseball games… so why aren't they camped out in some fancy country club, waiting for the fireworks display instead of crashing her party and alerting the town's gossips to their presence? Alice should've known better, psychic pixie that she is.

Stefan quickens his pace and catches up to his sister, placing a restraining hand on her shoulder. "Bella?" He tries again, a little softer than Damon's insistent calls. She shrugs off his hold on her and keeps walking.

"Party crashers," She tosses over her shoulder as an explanation. "I'm gonna go deal with them."

Stefan's brows furrow while Damon smirks. "I'll help you." He offers and gives Stefan, who stands just a step ahead of him, a light push. "Come on, brother. We've got company."

Bella tunes out her brothers as she focuses on her surroundings, utilizing her sharp senses to track their visitors. They're still running, not close enough to slow down yet, so she has time to cut them off in the woods.

And then what? Mystic Falls is a small town and though the streets would usually be dark enough to avoid detection at this hour – it's almost nine in the evening, just late enough to shy away from the streetlights and young crowd – tonight, the entire town is out and about, celebrating their country and enjoying the warm summer night. She can't take the Cullens somewhere else; one of those abandoned mansions on the outskirts of town would have been perfect. She can't check them into the one and only Mystic Inn, run by the town gossip.

She could smuggle them upstairs while everyone else keeps the guests occupied in the backyard, but she really, really doesn't have the time nor the patience to host seven outsiders in a house with three occupants, constant visitors and unexpected guests showing up at all hours. Well, unexpected guests who will soon show up at all hours. Once she starts calling on old friends, they'll be 'passing through' in droves and she'll be babysitting all of them, putting them up in the Boarding House and training them with no time at all for the Cullens.

A small part of her mind berates her for being so… hostile. After all, they're here to help just like any of the other vampires she'll be receiving, the ones she's happy to open her house to and train personally. So why is she so reluctant to extend the same courtesy towards these particular vampires?

With her brothers flanking her on both sides, Bella stops just short of the front door, momentarily puzzling her brothers. She closes her eyes, draws in a deep breath and squares her shoulders.

And then she's out of the front door and stalking into the dark woods.

Stefan and Damon share a quick look before chasing after her, catching up just before she disappears into the trees. Damon attempts to speak up but Bella holds up a hand before a single word can be spoken and turns around with one finger to her lips, asking for silence. Damon grudgingly grants her peace and quiet, trudging behind his sister soundlessly.

They continue on in silence until both brothers pick up on the sound of approaching footsteps, the ones Bella had heard from miles away. Stefan is stunned by his sister's senses and almost speaks up, but catches himself just in time for Bella to position herself in front of her brothers, shoulders tense and spine ramrod straight.

The footsteps grow closer and soon enough, both Stefan and Damon detect movement in the darkness ahead. Bella speaks just as the first of their visitors breaks through the dense foliage. Her cold, curt tone is something foreign to both of her brothers; she sounds formal and… _intimidating_.

"Hello, Edward."

The Cold One is quickly joined by six of his kind, the only familiar face being Alice Cullen, the one who had played messenger to Bella before being abruptly dismissed. Edward Cullen's eyes snap up as his name is spoken, quickly finding Bella, who stands tall and poised.

"Isabella." He nods curtly, with cold eyes that the brothers had not been expecting. From what they've heard – the little that Bella has told them – this Edward character is pretty much a lovesick puppy, especially when it comes to their little sister. So the cold anger simmering in his dark eyes is shocking and enough to put both Salvatore men on alert.

Bella remains silent, choosing not to acknowledge Edward's response or the rest of the Cullens. The ball is in their court, so to speak. She'll wait for them to declare the nature of their visit. She assumes Carlisle will step forward, being the leader of their little family unit and all, and she's proven right as the blonde vampire begins to take a step forward.

Edward speaks up before the Cullen patriarch can even offer her a signature warm smile.

"Did you know, _Bella,_" He sneers her name, as if he believes even that to be a lie. Bella rolls her eyes and settles in for a long lecture on honesty and integrity and true love, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. The young Cullen surprises her when he continues with an angry growl in his voice. "It isn't the brightest idea to compel other kinds, especially when there is magic involved?" He sounds condescending, patronizing, all manners of infuriating.

"You see," He speaks as if addressing a classroom of amateur vampires, delivering a lecture on his specialty. The Salvatore girl resists the urge to roll her eyes once more. As if this innocent, naïve boy who is all that is good and bright in this world has any experience whatsoever with mind manipulation. "What happens is that the compulsion starts wearing off, but in bits and pieces that don't always make sense or follow a chronological order. Now, put a depressed vampire who's recently lost his mate through this process and maybe you'll see just why I was going out of my mind, worried sick for my mate, who had mysteriously abandoned me with no warning, no goodbye, no apologies or explanations for the _lies_ she-"

Bella's dull eyes spark, ignited by self-righteousness and anger as she pins Edward down with a cold, withering stare.

How _dare _this child.

She scoffs, throwing in a cold, controlled laugh for good measure, as if his tirade has amused her. "You speak as if you had expected such things from me." She states with a curl of her lips. "As if I _owed_ you an explanation, an apology." She sounds calm and collected, detached and cold, even as she resists the urge to spit out these words. Edward's eyes widen – in anger, perhaps – and he tries to defend himself.

"I owe you _nothing_, boy." Bella hisses, beating him to a rebuttal. "_Nothing_."

"Not even a simple 'I'm sorry' for lying to me, manipulating me, _using_ me?" Edward demands, eyes blazing as he steps forward. Bella stands her ground and places her hands on her hips.

"Oh, _please_," She spits disdainfully. "Let's not make this sound like the greatest love affair. Or better yet, stop painting me as some Mata Hari vampire!" She suggests with a hiss.

"You made me love you! You made me believe you loved _me_!" Edward defends his case. Bella snorts, causing a blonde female among the other Cullens to step forward with a hiss. Stefan and Damon move forward to flank Bella on both sides as Damon shoots the blonde a deadly glare.

"Such horrible sins!" Bella cries sarcastically. "You made yourself believe that, with no help on my part at all. You chose to see things, signs, feelings that were not there!" She stops and notices, for the first time, how heavily she's breathing – how angry she really is. And then she looks at Edward, really looks at him, for the first time since his arrival.

Gone is the arrogant, self-righteous, scorned vampire with steely eyes. In his place stands the boy from Chicago, the one with hurt eyes and a broken heart, slumped shoulders and defeat in his posture.

She speaks one last time, but softly, almost kindly.

"I never said it back, Edward. I never _felt _it back."

His eyes tell her that he knows exactly what she's talking about, and that's enough for her. She turns to the other Cullens, keeping her eyes trained on Carlisle and Esme.

"I have a war to prepare for and I assume that is why you have come." She states and pauses only for Carlisle to nod. "You are all welcome to stick around for preparations, and decide for yourselves whether you would like to fight or hide. Training begins the day after tomorrow, eight sharp. Until then, if you'd excuse me." She manages a somewhat courteous smile.

"I have a party to get back to."

Bella promptly turns on her heel and makes her way back to the Salvatore house, wordlessly dismissing the gathered vampires as she turns her back on the boy who had tried to guilt trip her. Damon lingers just long enough to shoot the beaten boy a smirk, his heart swelling with pride for his tough sister. The blonde she-devil growls but Damon pays her no heed, choosing instead to catch up to his sister and fling an arm around her. Stefan puts on his best polite smile and an acknowledging nod before trailing after his siblings, leaving much confusion, anger and tension in their wake.

The seven Cullens stand in silence for a long time, shell-shocked and frozen in place. Finally, the biggest one of them all, a vampire named Emmett speaks up.

"Dude, was that her _boyfriend_?"

* * *

**Again, slight delay on this chapter. I'm getting slower with the updates, unfortunately. But there was some last-minute Christmas shopping that had to be taken care of, as usual. I'm still hoping to finish this story up before getting to work on my Christmas specials but if I'm not done by the 22****rd****, then we'll probably be on a five-day break while I write Christmas fics. Any requests for those?**

**Review and let me know how Doomsday goes for you guys! Shout out to those awesome Aussies for their insanely funny tweets, most of which read something along the lines of 'the koalas are taking over the world!'.**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


	20. Nineteen

**Baby Sister : Rewritten**

**Nineteen : Friends**

* * *

"Bella." Damon addresses his sister just as Stefan shuts the front door behind them. He's prepared to chase after her and press her for information but Bella turns around and faces him, remaining stationary.

"Yes?" She sighs; he can't tell if she's bored or just plain tired. Her hunched shoulders indicate the latter and he feels bad for her. This is her birthday – this was supposed to be Bella's day. And here she is, dealing with some douche bag extraordinaire and his family.

Damon studies his sister's eyes. She looks tired, upset and pissed, and the last thing he needs is to set her off again. He swallows his questions; there's always tomorrow morning, when she's well-rested and nursing a cup of coffee. For now, he'll just try to salvage her birthday.

"Let's go back to your party, birthday girl." He says instead, throwing in an unexpected smile. Bella regards him with curious eyes; she knows that isn't what he was going to say. He holds out a hand, prompting her.

Bella puts on a smile and rests her hand in his, letting her brother lead her back to the backyard where kids are laughing and getting drunk, where the world is still normal. Her brothers and friends stay with her all night, alternatively occupying her time with fun things. Towards the end of the night, after most of the freshmen and younger guests have reluctantly left due to curfews and other mundane responsibilities, Bella finds herself left with Jeremy, another friend in a long line of minders. The fact that she hasn't been left alone for a single second since her return to the party isn't lost on her but she chooses not to let it irk her and takes it as a touching gesture instead. Her brothers don't want her to dwell on their visitors, the war or the likes.

"So," She smiles at the youngest Gilbert; they get along quite well. "Where have you been all evening?"

"Around." He shrugs, handing her yet another plastic cup of whatever spiked drink the kids have been passing around. "I was hanging out with Tyler Lockwood. You know, the Mayor's son."

"Oh," Bella connects the dots, easily matching the name with a face. The werewolf boy who has yet to trigger the curse – she's been keeping an eye on him. Her brothers aren't aware of the werewolf gene, as far as she can tell, and so she's the only one keeping tabs on him. She isn't sure about the boy, though – Tyler. Is _he _aware of his own condition?

"Yeah, I remember him." She smiles easily, forming a plan. Maybe Jeremy knows a little more about Tyler. And she could easily get the information out of him. "So, are you friends or something?"

"Kinda," Jeremy shrugs reluctantly, suddenly intent on avoiding her eyes. "Not really. I don't know."

Bella suppresses a disappointed sigh; Jeremy probably doesn't know anything, then. But she does sense a good story, so she presses on.

"Tell me all about it."

"It's kind of a long story, Bells." Jeremy stalls, keeping his eyes focused on his drink. He looks uncomfortable and she briefly considers backing off before the boy himself starts talking.

"You know Matt, right?" She nods, recognizing the name. Caroline's quarterback love interest. "He had a sister. Vicki."

The past tense intrigues her; a dead sister that no one's talked about.

"She's, uh, she's dead now." Jeremy states unnecessarily. "Damon messed up and Stefan was on clean-up duty."

His words are vague but they hint at the truth that Jeremy has only just found out, as Bella's been told. Apparently Elena had kept him in the dark for as long as possible before he had found her journal, the one with every last detail of the past few months carefully written down. He's holding up quite well, all things considered. Maybe the Gilberts are just hardwired to deal with supernatural crap.

"Great," Bella comments dryly; she can figure out the story on her own. She downs her shot of spiked whatever in one gulp. So Damon did something crazy and Stefan dealt with the consequences. What else is new?

Following her lead, Jeremy takes a hesitant sip out of his red cup and scrunches up his nose in distaste. Bella laughs – she's seen him rolling up a joint before but he can't stomach spiked soda? – before plucking the Dixie cup out of his hands and knocking back the contents.

Jeremy gives her an impressed look before going on with his story.

"I'm guessing you know what happened. Damon got bored, turned Vicki and let her loose. She tried to kill Elena so Stefan killed her. The end." Bella doesn't speak up, giving Jeremy a chance to tell her the _real _story – not that this isn't the truth; it just isn't the one that explains his acquaintance with the Lockwood boy.

Jeremy shuffles his feet before finally telling the tale he wants to tell. "Vicki was… with Tyler." He says reluctantly, grudgingly. "But over the summer, we…"

"Bonded?" Bella offers, her one word dripping with implication. She's heard about Jeremy's downward spiral, most of which happened last summer.

The boy shoots her a discouraging look but nods. "Yeah. Tyler was _not _happy."

A clear picture of the situation forms in Bella's mind. "So you bonded over your dead girlfriend." She concludes, cutting short Jeremy's story. His eyes widen at her blunt statement before giving her a curt nod.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Cool." Bella replies distractedly, spotting her brother in the crowd. Damon is heading towards her with a serious look on his face, one that does not bode well for the rest of her stress-free evening. "Jer," She says urgently, wrapping things up with the boy before her brother can dismiss him. "Just be careful around Lockwood, okay?"

Jeremy's brows furrow as he regards her with questioning eyes. "Bella, what're you saying?"

Bella frowns impatiently. "It's just… you don't retain power for this long, Jeremy, without having some of your own."

Damon gets to them just in time. "Go to your sister, Jeremy." He orders firmly without even sparing the boy a glance. Bella's insides knot up in dread; it's rare for Damon to address Jeremy by his name and without even a jab at his young age or mortal status. The youngest Gilbert is seemingly aware of this as well; he nods curtly and with one last look at Bella, turns around and walks off in search of Elena.

Bella fixes her eyes on her brother. "Damon, what's going on?" She whispers, trying not to attract attention. Damon wordlessly drapes one hand around her, pulling her close in a protective gesture, and pulls her away, his eyes furtively scanning the partying crowd.

"You have another visitor." He mutters under his breath, knowing that the words will reach her loud and clear. Bella shoots him an alarmed look as she freezes in her tracks for just a moment. They scurry off as soon as she regains her composure, his arm still around her.

They don't notice the vampire who lurks in the shadows, glaring at the way Damon's hand rests on Bella's shoulder.

"Damon," Bella speaks up as her brother leads her inside, finally shaking off the protective hold he has on her. "Who is it?" She demands, not wanting to be taken by surprise.

"Some chick showed up," Damon shrugs as she falls into step with him on their way to the living room. "Says she's a friend of yours and she's here to kick some Original ass. Short hair, sharp features, hot accent."

Their guest comes into view just as Bella figures out her identity.

"Rose."

The short-haired vampire rises from the armchair she was seated in, greeting Bella with a perfunctory smile. She's too stressed out to be friendly, probably because she's finally surfaced after centuries on the run.

"Bella."

"Rose," Bella breathes, walking forward to greet her old friend. They share a brief embrace, one which Rose quickly pulls away from.

"Is it true?" She asks anxiously. "Is he coming here?"

"Yes." Bella replies somberly. "I'm afraid so." She motions for her visitor to sit down and does the same, positioning herself in the chair just next to her friend's, turning slightly so that she faces her.

"Oh, Rose," She sighs, reaching out for the woman's hand. "Why did you come here?"

Rosemarie regards her with sad eyes. "Trevor didn't want me to come here, as you probably know." She smiles fondly at the thought of her old friend. Bella frowns, waiting for an answer to her question.

"I cannot run any more, Bella. _Five hundred years_," She stresses. "Five hundred years on the run with no end in sight." She sighs heavily.

"Until now."

"When-" She stumbles over her choice of words; Rose had never been one to shy away from speaking _his _name but after a while, she had noticed the way Bella preferred to avoid it and so she had done the same, for her friend. "When he comes, I want to be here with you. To fight."

Bella forms a protest; yes, she needs fighters but _Rose_? The same Rose he has been hunting for centuries? He'll have her heart in his hands before they can even get done with pleasantries. And there will be pleasantries, because that's his way.

Rose holds up a hand, warding off her friend's concern. "No, Bella." She speaks decisively. "I've made up my mind. Trevor couldn't talk me out of it and I guarantee you won't have much success either."

Her friend sighs resignedly and offers her a sad smile. "Stubborn Rose." She mutters affectionately.

"I can either fight with you or hide like a miserable coward and count the days until he finds me. And I am done hiding." Rose declares. "I will fight by your side."

Stefan and Damon, who have been watching the women interact in silence, are shocked to see their sister fling herself at this Rosemarie person, holding her in a fierce hug.

"Thank you, Rose." Bella speaks softly, overcome with mixed emotions. "Thank you."

The older vampire slowly begins to pull away, a grin on her face obscuring all signs of concern and thoughts of impending danger.

"Now, what's this I hear about a party?"

* * *

"Who's the new girl?" Bonnie appears out of nowhere, eyeing Rose with a wary gaze as she steps up to Bella's side.

Bella, who has been watching her friend for the last thirty seconds, turns to flash Bonnie a brief smile before fixing her eyes on the two vampires standing across the clearing. "Old friend," She tells Bonnie. "Rose."

"She seems to be getting along with Damon." The witch points out unnecessarily.

It's true, Rose and Damon seem to get along in their own weird way. Bella's been keeping tabs on them ever since she had led Rose to the backyard. They'll start talking and Damon will say something offensive and utterly in character, prompting Rose to roll her eyes and walk away, only for them to somehow start talking again a few minutes later. They've repeated this pattern four times.

"Yeah," She agrees but leaves it at that. She'll let them figure things out themselves – she's never been good at matchmaking and all that stuff. She turns around fully to face Bonnie, who remains focused on the newcomer.

"Hey, Bon?" She tries to get the witch's attention. It's time to ask Bonnie for help.

"Hmm?" Bonnie hums in acknowledgement, turning to her after a few seconds.

The fireworks start just as Bella is about to voice out her request, and she settles for a strained smile instead. "Never mind." She mumbles as they both observe the sky. Stefan comes to stand next to her a short while later and she leans against her brother as they watch the festivities.

After a brief period of silence, Stefan speaks in a low tone, keeping his words confined between the two of them. "Elena says there are two people waiting outside."

Bella tenses up at her brother's next words. "She thinks they might be vampires."

One night. Just one night without vampires and visitors and all of this, that's all she wants. But when has she ever gotten anything her way? So she groans and excuses herself, giving Bonnie some half-assed excuse about something she honestly can't remember.

Stefan falls into step with her as she stalks towards the backdoor, muttering something along the lines of 'this _better _be good'. Damon joins them just as they walk past the living room, questioning Stefan on their sister's behavior.

Bella ignores both of them, flinging the door open as soon as she reaches it.

"Marlene." She greets curtly, making no move to invite the vampire in.

"Isabella." The woman nods.

"Shall I assume that your _master _sent you here?" She sounds perfectly formal, except for the emphasized – with disgust – _master_. She knows Marlene; she's known Marlene for a long time.

After all, she had been Bella's first friend during her captivity.

Marlene shrinks away, her cold mask cracking under the heat of Bella's glare. The sight of the petite, brunette vampire with her wildly curled hair and blue eyes brings back memories of times past, memories that she's worked so hard to forget.

Finally, Marlene speaks, her single-word answer spoken so softly that any human would have missed it.

"No," She sighs before raising her chin defiantly. "I do not answer to him, not anymore."

Bella's eyes widen marginally; is she saying…

"I no longer serve him. Neither do they," She waves a hand and a dozen vampires step into sight, abandoning their hiding spots behind the trees. Bella gasps – she knows these vampires. She knows more than half of them, because they had all been her friends once upon a time; her little group of old, powerful vampire friends.

"Marlene," Her voice wavers as her eyes flit from vampire to vampire, taking in the familiar faces. She inhales before speaking more forcefully. "Marlene, what is going on?"

A man – Jonathan – steps forward.

"We are tired of doing his dirty work, Isabella." He addresses her formally; _he_ had insisted she be called that way, naming her their mistress. "We serve no one, only ourselves. But we have come to stand by your side."

Marlene nods. "We will fight, on your side."

Bella remains still and speechless; this is unexpected, unprecedented… his vampires have abandoned him, rallied against him. Her mind is spinning.

What has happened to him? What has he done to lose their loyalty, these vampires who had once lived for him?

"Umm, Bella," Damon speaks with hesitation, stepping forward to place a hand on his sister's shoulder, breaking her out of her reverie. "What's going on?"

She looks around once more, recognizing old faces and seeing new ones. These vampires are old, strong and smart. They know him, they know how he works, they know how he moves. These are the vampires that will tip the odds.

A smile graces her face as she turns around to face her brother.

"They're friends." She declares. Marlene exhales in relief as the tense atmosphere dissipates and the vampires move closer.

"How does this work?" One of the vampires that she doesn't know speaks up. "I'm Tim." He adds.

"Bella," She nods in acknowledgement, sharing her preferred name. "Training starts the day after tomorrow, eight sharp." At least she has someone to pit the Cullens against. Hopefully they'll have more surprise additions in time for their first training session.

Marlene nods and tells her they'll be here. In the meantime, they've taken up residence in one of the abandoned mansions, the ones she had thought of sneaking the Cullens into. A few more words are exchanged - mostly thanks and assurances that they are on the same side – before the vampires slink back into the darkness.

"Well, that was unexpected." Damon remarks as Bella closes the door behind her.

"Yes," She leans against the door, letting it support her weight as she absorbs this unexpected turn of events. "Yes, it was."

"But it's a good thing?" Stefan checks.

They have Cold Ones. They have vampires who have been hiding for centuries. They have _his _vampires, the ones who have turned their backs on him for her. And she knows just where to get more vampires.

"Yeah," Her lips curl up in a grin. "It's a very good thing."

"Good thing you have so many friends." Damon comments as they, once again, make their way back to the others. She wonders how many times she'll be dragged away from her own party, and if she really does have many friends. How many of them will be willing to come and stand by her? It's time to find out, and there's only one efficient way to contact multiple vampires scattered across the continents with no means of being contacted.

It's time to ask Bonnie for a favor.

* * *

"I still don't understand what we're doing."

Bonnie trudges after Bella, squinting to make out fallen branches and dangerous rocks on the ground, endangered by the dark night. Bella walks at a rapid peace, gliding across the forest floor without once stumbling or tripping over a twig.

"We're almost there," She tells Bonnie, indirectly evading her question. They're still too close to the house and she doesn't need anyone eavesdropping. And the Cullens' whereabouts are one big question mark – who knows where they are? She doesn't need them hearing the conversation she's about to have with Bonnie, so she continues to lead the clueless witch deeper into the woods until they reach a clearing she deems far enough from prying eyes. Trees are sparse, allowing for moonlight to illuminate their surroundings.

"Bonnie," She turns around to face her friend as they both come to a stop.

"Yeah?" The witch responds warily; she's noticed the sudden urgency in Bella's voice, the shift in the atmosphere.

"Have you noticed," Bella speaks as she pulls a pin out of her hair. "That your powers are growing? Multiplying?"

Bonnie nods hesitantly. "How did you-"

"Witches receive their powers in stages." Bella explains, cutting her off mid-sentence. "In increments, basically. Right now, you're at the last stage."

The witch doesn't seem to be following her. "It's the last chance for your powers to find you. There's a surge, a rush as all of it comes in." She explains somewhat impatiently.

"Okay…" Bonnie trails off, uncertain of what to say.

"Your powers will settle down, soon. But before they do, they're a wild mess of raw magic. It's called a window – a window during which anything is possible."

"How do you even know all of this?" Bonnie questions curiously.

Bella shrugs. "I've been around for a long time." She says easily; that has nothing to do with her knowledge of witchcraft but it's an acceptable answer.

"I need your help." She finally states, putting Bonnie on edge.

"With what?"

"A spell." The vampire pulls a piece of aged paper out of her jeans' pocket and hands it over to her companion. "It's a simple one, almost like the tracking spell you did to find me."

Bonnie looks up; she hadn't expected Bella to know of that. "Stefan told me." Bella shrugs it off, quickly bringing them back on track.

"Locating spells tap into the essence of a vampire; their aura, if you will." She explains briefly. Bonnie doesn't need to know the exact mechanics; she just needs to mumble a few words. But she knows the young witch won't go blindly into something she knows nothing about and tries to humor her. "This taps into their _minds_. There is a collective bond amongst vampire friends, and once you've tapped into someone's mind, you don't forget it. Like a signal, you can trace it. I need you to cast the spell so that I can trace those signals."

Her friend nods. "Okay, I've got it." She studies the spell before looking up at Bella once more. "Why track down all of your vampire friends?" She asks.

Bella sighs heavily, part frustrated and part reluctant. Bonnie needs to _hurry up_ before the sun rises… but at the same time, she isn't very enthusiastic about calling all of her friends here to face the most dangerous vampire of all time in a bloodbath. But it must be done, and so she faces Bonnie with determination.

"To send a message."

Bonnie doesn't throw her further questions, just gets to work by starting a fire. It forms a ring around them, keeping them inside and anyone who might come by out of the circle.

"How are we going to connect with them?" Bonnie blurts suddenly, having remembered that these spells tend to require personal items.

Bella faces her, maintaining eye contact as she wordlessly holds up the pin she had pulled out of her hair and presses it into the inside of her arm, pulling it down in a straight line. She draws blood.

Fire dances behind her as her hair quivers in the unnatural breeze Bonnie's magic has brought upon them. The image of her, lit by fire as she holds out her bleeding wrist sends chills down Bonnie's spine – she's never seen this side of Bella – but she raises her chin in determination and grabs Bella's bloodied arm.

The flames shoot upward, growing intense as she starts chanting.

Both vampire and witch close their eyes as flames roar around them and the crackling sound of burning leaves fills their ears, along with Bonnie's Latin chanting which steadily rises in volume until she's almost shouting and they're both shaking from the effort. Bella grows weak as Bonnie channels her blood to reach out but manages to focus and remain concentrated on the task at hand. Every vampire she's ever met – the ones she knows she can trust, and the ones she knows she can convince – floods her mind as she opens her mind to Bonnie, allowing the witch to establish a connection between all of their minds.

Finally, Bella manages to send out her message.

_Come here. Come back. Come home to where it all began._

* * *

**So the vampires are slowly trickling in… any familiar faces you'd like to see? Just drop a review and I'll see what I can do. Oh, and I was messing around with some image morphing while procrastinating, so if you'd like to check out a couple of baby pictures of Bella, you can find them on Twitter. I'm ESalvatore3.**

**I'm taking a short break to work on the Christmas specials and will probably be back by the 26****th**** or 27****th****, after which I hope to wrap this up before the New Year and get to work on the sequel within the first week of 2013.**

**So for now: happy holidays/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus and Merry Christmas!**

_**E Salvatore,**_

_**December 2012.**_


End file.
